Ruby Hearts
by MikariStar
Summary: Spike is determined to always be there for Rarity through the unexpected twists and turns of life. A collection of Sparity tales of varying subjects.
1. Perseverance 1

After receiving some harsh and unfair critiques from a client, Rarity loses confidence in her designs. Spike can't stand to see her sad and will do anything to cheer her up. Mainly Spike x Rarity, with some light Macintosh x Twilight on the side.

Perseverance

Part 1: Falling Down

"No! No! No!" The pale pink unicorn screeched in dissatisfaction as she tore off her dress. "This is even worse than before!" She flipped her curly cyan mane in indignation as she paced around the Carousel Boutique, walking in circles around its owner. "Awful, terrible, you don't know what you're doing!" Her golden eyes narrowed at the designer.

Rarity's eye twitched as she tried very hard to keep a professional face and not break into tears of frustration and anger. She had been trying to make the perfect dress for this super picky unicorn for days. Yet every time she showed up for a fitting, she had more to complain about. She had changed her mind about the color and style several times and always found little details to complain about. Too bright, too pale, too simple, too overloaded, too long, too short and so on. Because of Miss Stylista, the rude picky unicorn, Rarity was behind on all her projects. "I'm sure I can adjust the design," Rarity spoke between clenched teeth.

Stylista held a devious grin for a second before her expression went back to being displeased. "I will oh so mercifully grant you another chance to prove yourself, but you better outdo yourself with real quality materials this time. Use only your best."

"Of course," Rarity sighed. She began to pick up the discarded dress while Stylista continued going on and on with her critiques. The picky customer emphasized the fact that she was from Canterlot where the designs were of much better quality than in plain old Ponyville. She reminded Rarity over and over that her opinion could make or break her career as a major fashion designer.

The little bell attached to the front door of Carousel Boutique chimed, indicating the arrival of someone else. Rarity looked up from her notes, her mane a little messy from the stress. "Hi Rarity," Spike greeted her cheerfully, though he soon paused to really take a closer look at her. She seemed so stressed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, darling, just a little busy right now." Rarity tried not to snap, after all none of this was Spike's fault.

Stylista saw that Rarity was trying her best to keep her temper in check. She was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, which was exactly what the conceded pink unicorn wanted to cause. "Ugh! What is that ugly thing? You allow lizards into your shop? Such bad taste!"

Spike's shoulders slumped and he frowned deeply. Was a dragon really that ugly from a unicorn's perspective? Twilight had never hinted at such a thing and neither had Rarity, but what if they were just being mercifully nice?

Seeing Spike's heartbroken expression, Rarity finally lost all control. She dropped the dress, parchment and quill that she had in her psychic hold and allowed her frustration and anger to show on her face. She was furious, in fact, she was so furious that both Spike and Stylista had to take a step back, because at that moment, the white unicorn was scarier than a fully grown dragon. "How dare you?" Rarity shouted enraged. "Insult my shop, insult my designs, insult me and I can take it in a civilized manner, but I will not tolerate any insults at my friends." She charged forward with her horn glowing brightly.

Before Stylista had a chance to counter, she found herself entrapped in Rarity's psychic hold, being flung out the door and thrown across the street to land in a mud puddle that remained from last night's downpour. Rarity exhaled through her nose with an angry quite unladylike grunt, then slammed the door shut, the little bell falling off from the force of the impact. Angrily pacing about, she placed the bell back where it belonged and changed the 'open' sign on the door to 'closed'.

Spike stood open mouthed, in awe of the outburst. He had never seen Rarity so furious before. Was she defending him because she disagreed, because she didn't think he was ugly? Yes, that had to be it; she must think he was handsome. Yet Spike's happiness didn't last, as he noticed that Rarity didn't look like she felt any better after letting out her emotions. In fact, she looked like she felt worse, which was confirmed as she burst into tears. "Rarity, don't cry!" Spike rushed over to comfort her.

Between desperate sobs and sniffles, Rarity cried out, "I'm ruined! My career is over; I insulted Canterlot high-society and acted like such an uncivilized beast for all the ponies walking down the street to see!"

"But that mean unicorn deserved it!" Spike insisted as he patted Rarity's shoulder in a soothing gesture.

"That's not the point," Rarity sobbed. "I was unable to meet her refined standards, so it was only natural that she became frustrated with my inability."

"But everyone thinks your designs are amazing!" Spike continued trying to cheer her up to no avail.

"Everyone in Ponyville maybe, but being recognized in Canterlot is but a far away unattainable dream!" Rarity cried. "If I had done better from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."

Spike frowned, his expression becoming further depressed. "If I haven't come in here and scared that Canterlot brat, this wouldn't have happened. I guess I must be hideous by Canterlot standards."

Rarity gasped, moving away her hooves from her face and ceasing her crying in a moment of determination. "Don't say that, my little Spiky-whiky." She sniffled and fought to dry her tears. "No matter what anyone says you're the cutest, most adorable, handsomest dragon I've ever seen!"

Spike blushed at the compliments, "really?"

"Yes, really," Rarity nodded. She regretted her wild actions, but she didn't regret defending Spike. "What was it that you needed?"

"I didn't need anything; I just came by to see you." Spike shifted shyly, a light red blush still on his face.

"Oh..." Rarity had several projects she could work on, but after the upsetting scene, she just didn't feel like it. She really needed a good relaxing rest to feel better. Maybe she should go out for some tea in that nice cafe down the street. It was only polite to take her guest with her. "Spike, do you want to go out for some tea?"

Spike immediately became excited at the prospect of going out with Rarity. It might have been a simple outing between friends for her, but for him, it was a date. "I'd love to!" The young dragon exclaimed.

"Then let's go," Rarity smiled at Spike's happy expression. "Just give me a moment to brush my mane."

"Sure, I'll be waiting right here," Spike smiled.

Rarity walked to her room and looked at her face in the vanity's mirror. She sighed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. She carefully dried it, then went back to her room to brush her mane and re-apply her make-up. Maybe if she looked good, it would help her feel good. After she was finished, she returned to the main room of her shop where an impatient Spike was pacing around as he waited for her. "I hope that didn't take too long."

"Not at all!" Spike was quick to exclaimed. "You look beautiful Rarity," he bashfully complimented.

Rarity giggled, "thank you, my Spiky-whiky." The pair left the shop together and spent a nice relaxing afternoon at Rarity's favorite cafe.

xoxox xox xoxox

The next day, Rarity felt much better after having taken the rest of the previous day off after the upsetting fiasco and getting a good night's sleep. She got ready for the day, ready to dive into the projects she had been putting off. She went to change the closed sign on her door to open, though she didn't expect any customers to arrive that early in the morning. While she was there, she went out to look into her mailbox. She levitated the mail and set it down on the table inside the shop. There was a party invite in a bright pink envelope from Pinkiepie to celebrate Gummy's half-way birthday party, which was to take place on the six month anniversary of his last birthday. A plain white envelope held a bill and a small lavender postcard held an advertisement for a special at the spa she and Fluttershy often frequented.

Aside from these articles, there was one more item that Rarity had retrieved out of her mailbox. She set aside the rest of her correspondence and curiously looked at the pale blue envelope. One look at the return address made Rarity's heart skip a beat. It was from the committee organizing a fashion show competition in Los Pegasus, as part of the opening ceremony for an upcoming theatre festival. She had mailed her dress days ago. A team of models skilled in dancing would wear dresses from the contestants to be judged. Unfortunately, Rarity couldn't make it to watch the show in person, but she was excited to hear about it. This couldn't be a letter telling her that she won or thanking her for her participation and informing her that she didn't win, because the competition had not taken place yet.

Overtaken by curiosity, Rarity opened the letter. Her eyes read over the lines rapidly over and over in disbelief. This couldn't be; it simply couldn't be. Her sapphire eyes watered and tears soon began to cascade from them. Then the sound of the little bell on Rarity's door chiming softly, caught her attention. She quickly dried her tears and put her mail away with her unicorn magic, then went to greet the early potential customer. To her surprise, the one she found was, "Spike?"

"Good morning Rarity, the sign said open so I came in," Spike greeted, he was holding a basket of contents that were as of yet unknown to Rarity.

"Good morning Spike," Rarity tried to make herself smile despite the harsh blow that the letter from Los Pegasus delivered. "What brings you here this early in the morning?"

"I came to bring you some breakfast." Spike showed her the basket full of toast, waffles, a jar of apple jam and a bottle of apple juice. The last two were very likely Sweet Apple Acres products. "You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

"Not yet," Rarity smiled, at least she had her little Spiky-whiky to keep her company in her time of woe. "Let me start setting up the table." She focused on the simple task of getting everything ready to have breakfast with Spike. Soon the food was served, but she did little else beyond stare at it.

Spike observed Rarity's sad expression. She looked like she was feeling a lot better when they parted ways yesterday. He thought that she would be over yesterday's incident completely after a good night's sleep. "Rarity?"

The elegant unicorn looked up from her staring contest with the food. "Yes?"

"Why are you still sad?" Spike cut to the chase. He wanted to make Rarity cheer up, but he didn't know how.

"I'm not sad, not sad at all, you don't have to worry about me, darling," Rarity forced herself to smile.

"But you're not eating," Spike pointed out. "Don't you like the food?"

"I like it very much." Rarity took a bite of her toast to demonstrate. "It's delicious and the apple jam certainly gives it a special touch. It was very thoughtful of you to bring me breakfast, thank you so much, my little Spiky-whiky."

Spike smiled, "you're welcome." Maybe Rarity wasn't so sad after all. Maybe she was still half-asleep; it was very early in the morning. But then he looked into her eyes again and concluded that his first theory was correct. Those were not sleepy eyes, those were sad eyes. Even though Rarity had assured him that it wasn't his fault, Spike still felt guilty for scaring her customer yesterday. Sure, the prissy pink unicorn deserved worse, but that wasn't the point. The point was that the whole ordeal had upset Rarity. "Are you still sad about yesterday?"

"Not at all, darling," Rarity assured, trying to sound as normal as she could. She wasn't entirely lying; she was a little upset about yesterday but only as a result of being very upset about today. "My sweet little Spiky-whiky, don't you worry about me, I'm fine."

Another forced smile followed and Spike remained unconvinced. "If you say so..."

After breakfast was finished, Spike knew it was time for him to go back to the library, but he didn't want to leave Rarity until he knew she was okay. "Are you heading back to the library?" Rarity casually inquired.

"I guess so." Spike thought that Rarity must be getting tired of his nosy presence and wanted him to leave.

However, her next words took him by surprise. "Do you mind if I come along? There is something I want to discuss with Twilight."

"Sure," Spike immediately agreed. "Let's walk there together." He didn't know what Rarity had to talk to Twilight about, but he was all too glad to have her come over. Besides, maybe this way Rarity would cheer up. Thus the unicorn closed her shop for the day and headed to the library with Spike.

xoxox xox xoxox

After a short walk to the library, Spike and Rarity went in, with Spike announcing their arrival. "We're here!"

"We?" Twilight inquired as she made her way down the stairs. She was expecting Spike to return any minute, but she wasn't expecting him to bring company. She smiled as she spotted Rarity near the door. "Good morning Rarity, what brings you here?"

"Good morning, Twilight," Rarity politely returned the greeting. "There was a little something I wanted to try out and thought you could help me with it."

"I'll do anything I can," Twilight assured, though she didn't even know what Rarity would ask for yet. "What do you need?"

Spike listened quietly as Rarity shared an unexpected explanation. "When I was a little filly, I enjoyed those cute picture books with the stories about castles, knights and princesses." As Rarity explained Spike imagined himself all grown up and wearing polished armor, as Rarity's valiant knight. "I liked to imagine myself as the princess in the story, wearing the pretty gown. I also really loved the ball scene in Hoofrella and the beautiful pictures of all the lovely dresses."

Twilight smiled, listening to her friend speak of her enjoyment of books. She took a guess at what Rarity wanted help with. "So now you want me to help you find those same picture books for nostalgia? Maybe to share them with Sweetie Bell?"

"Actually," this was the unexpected part of Rarity's revelation, though Spike was yet to comprehend what it truly meant. "I wanted to create a picture book of my own. I was wondering if you could inform me on the process."

"A picture book of your own?" Twilight had to admit that she was surprised, but she was also happy. "That's wonderful! I'll be happy to tell you everything I know about publishing. In fact, I have a book about it around here."

"Way ahead of you!" Spike was already jumping down from the shelf where the book in question was stored. "This should be helpful," the tile read 'A Guide For Publication'. "I got a dictionary too, in case you need some extra pretty words."

"Excellent!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'll get started in the project right away!" She didn't feel like going back to her shop so she asked. "Is it okay if I stay here at the library? I promise to be quiet and not get in the way."

"It's no trouble at all," Twilight assured. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

"And I'll be happy to help you with your picture book project," Spike offered.

"Me too," Twilight agreed. "Just let us know what you need.

"Thank you both!" Rarity got to work right away. "For now, I think I'll just get started on the basic draft and show you my progress as soon as I have something."

Rarity made herself comfortable in a corner of the library and read through the basic explanations on the guide book. She needed to draft her story before she started sketching so that she knew just what she should sketch. She stared at the quill and parchment in her psychic hold for several minutes before setting them down with a sigh. She had no idea what to write about that would make for an exciting plot. Well, she had always liked balls, so there would be a ball in her story. It might have sounded cliche, but she decided to write a story about a pony who found her true love at a ball.

She tried to picture the heroine; she would be a beautiful princess from a far away land. The book said she had to establish and develop the characters' main traits and that the traits and plot had to compliment each other.

The heroine needed something to overcome, so Rarity decided that the heroine would be lonely, that should be appropriately dramatic. The princess would spend her days reading pony tales of love. None of her suitors were anything like the stallions in the books, much to her disappointment. Rarity took notes of all of that.

A few minutes later, Spike took a break from his daily chores and went over to Rarity. She had stopped her writing and was back to staring at the parchment. She had been doing that for twenty minutes now. "Hey Rarity, sorry to interrupt, I was just curious about how the story was going."

Rarity sighed, "it's not going anywhere right now. I came up with the basic design for the main mare, but I have nothing for the stallion. The heroine of the story is a beautiful princess from a kingdom far, far away."

Did the hero really have to be a stallion? Spike didn't think so. He could be a dragon. "So this princess... She's a beautiful unicorn who is..." He paused with sudden shyness, but made himself continue, "looking for her true love?"

"Yes," Rarity confirmed, wondering if her story was already too predictable. She knew it was a bit cliche, but maybe it would develop into its own tale if she kept working on it. "I have a pretty good idea of what her ball gown will be like. It will compliment her color and mane beautifully! As for the stallion, I have nothing but a big blank." Honestly, she couldn't wait to draw the ball scene, but she had to finish designing the characters first.

"Well... Maybe he could be different..." Spike suggested. Different as in not a pony, but he didn't want to be too direct.

"Different?" Rarity pondered.

"Yes... Then you can show in the story that love overcomes everything," Spike suggested. "And that it's what's inside that counts and stuff."

"Yes, that does fit the theme," Rarity further mused on the suggestion. "I know, it'll be a classic rags to riches tale, but instead of the mare being the peasant who finds her prince like in most pony tales, it will be the stallion who finds his princess. That's it! Oh my little Spiky-whiky, you're a genius! All the so called high class stallions were only interested in the princess' riches and kingdom, but a noble peasant stallion would prove that he truly loved her. He would be... he would be..."

"Lunch is ready!" Twilight's voice suddenly called out.

"Yay! Lunch time!" Spike cheered, he really loved lunch time. It was his favorite time of the day right next to dinner time.

"Lunch time already?" Rarity was taken by surprise. The morning flew by and she hardly had an unfinished draft for her story. If she was making dresses, she would have a finished, or at least nearly finished, product by now. But she couldn't think of that now, it only reminded her of that letter from Los Pegasus, it only reminded her of her shame and her failure. It reminded her of her disgrace that went beyond the disgrace of a failed design. She couldn't think about that now, not when Spike and Twilight were so kindly supporting her in her new career as a pony tale book illustrator.

Rarity tried to hide her sudden outburst of sadness as she joined Spike and Twilight around the table, voicing her sincere thanks for the generous meal. However, her shift in mood did not go unnoticed by Spike and Twilight, who discretely exchanged glances. Maybe Rarity was suffering from writer's block and could use a few suggestions.

After lunch, Twilight decided that rather than waiting for Rarity to call her over, she would provide some feedback. Thus Rarity shared what she had of the story so far. "I must thank you both for the inspiration, the stallion character would still be but a blurry shadow if not for the two of you." Rarity ascertained gratefully. "Spike and I were discussing him just when you called us to lunch and that gave me an idea," she told Twilight. "He will be a chef in the princess' royal castle. He's always there for the princess and truly cares for her. But the princess is so caught up in her pony tale books that she keeps on waiting for her ideal prince and doesn't realize that her dream stallion is right in front of her." Rarity secretly drew some inspiration from her experience with Prince Blueblood for certain parts of the story. "All the princes from other lands disappoint the princess, but the chef stallion has every quality she's looking for, except she doesn't immediately see it because he's not a prince."

"Sounds like the story is really taking off," Twilight encouraged. Admittedly it was a little cliche, but picture book stories were only half about plot and half about the art. Besides, if this was a story for young fillies, then it shouldn't be too complicated and if it had a positive life lesson, even better. "What are the names of the princess and the chef?"

Rarity drew a complete blank and her lack of answer to Twilight's very vital question was plainly obvious on her face. "Ah... well..."

"Rarity and Spike!" The young dragon suggested. Twilight and Rarity laughed in good humor.

Rarity considered her options, "I'm going to name them..."

The knocking on the door interrupted Rarity's thoughts as everyone's attention focused on it. Twilight opened the door to reveal Big Macintosh with a basket on his mouth. "Howdy every pony," he quietly greeted.

"Hey Big Mac, come in," Twilight invited him inside the library.

However, Macintosh shook his head. "S'okay miss Twilight, Ah'm only here tah deliver this pie from AJ." He gave the basket to Twilight and inside it; there was a freshly baked apple pie.

"Wow, this smells delicious, please give Applejack my thanks," Twilight happily exclaimed. "Are you sure you can't stay to have some pie with us?"

"Ah should really get goin' back to tha farm." In all honesty, Macintosh wasn't even sure why Applejack insisted that he delivered the pie, instead of doing so herself when she went to town to sell apples and apple based treats. He didn't question it too much though, he didn't get out of the farm much, and frankly he didn't miss the hustle and bustle of town, but visiting Twilight was... nice.

"No!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed with such dramatics that it made Macintosh worry that she was spontaneously injured somehow. "Please stay for pie Big Macintosh, you must! It is vital for my future!"

Twilight rose a suspicious eye brow while Spike huff with jealousy. "Vital?" Macintosh questioned in confusion.

"Yes, you see, I was just about to finish designing a character for my upcoming book and I can just feel that inspiration is very close. The name is just about to come... It's coming... I know that if I come up with a name, the stallion's face will also appear in my imagination, then I'll be able to draw him along side his princess. Please, oh please stay!" Rarity insisted.

Big Macintosh didn't know how to refuse that, so he simply replied with a helpless, "eeyup."

The four friends had some apple pie in a silence that was too awkward for Rarity's liking. She had thought of becoming an illustrator because she couldn't possibly face the world as a designer after her recent failure. Twilight was always talking about how she loved to get lost in books and an escape from the harsh reality was exactly what Rarity needed. Plus, even though she didn't have any experience in story writing nor in drawing sceneries, structures, backgrounds, poses and expressions, she could certainly draw pretty dresses, so the rest of the art, she assumed, would come on its own during the process. Maybe the library was getting to be a little stuffy though. Thus after the dessert was consumed, Rarity suggested, begged and insisted, that they went back to her house so she could better grasp the fragile thread of inspiration that kept eluding her grip with such agility.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Rarity's shop, she ran around levitating fabric, needles and threads, pins, ribbons and gems all around. Somehow, she managed to work on two projects at the same time with Spike watching in amazement as she put together a dress for Twilight and a suit for Big Macintosh simultaneously. "This here... that there... Stay still now, darlings. Make a few adjustments here... Look up now Twilight... Ah yes, of course, that's what it needs... Please hold still Big Macintosh, this will only take a moment."

If he was going to be perfectly honest with himself, and honesty ran in the Apple family, Big Macintosh was nothing short of terrified. He gave Twilight a pleading look while Rarity attacked him with a brush to his mane. Twilight gave him a smile that was both knowing and reassuring as she whispered. "You better not move right now." For Rarity was wielding a pair of scissors on his mane and tail. She didn't cut much, only trimmed a few split ends here and there, so he looked polished, but not particularly different.

"There, all finished!" After hours of following Rarity's instructions, Twilight and Macintosh found themselves all dressed up as if they were in the Grand Galloping Gala.

Spike was still jealous that he wasn't in the center of Rarity's attention, but he calmed down a little when she gave both Twilight and Big Macintosh attention, instead of just Big Mac. In fact, she had spent more time on Twilight, but that was only natural, since mare attire was more elaborate than stallion apparel. Besides, Spike was pretty impressed with Rarity's talent and the way she put together the outfits so quickly and naturally, she was amazingly talented.

Twilight looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a silk lavender gown that flowed beautifully and somehow made her legs look longer and more slender. Rose quartz adorned her jewelry in cascading long earrings that shimmered with elegance and a small delicate tiara. "Wow, this dress is really amazing. I can't believe you came up with the design and made it in such a short time." Macintosh said something, but Twilight didn't quite hear him, "sorry, what was that?"

A bit shyly, Mac repeated, "you look really purdy Miss Twilight..."

Twilight smiled, "thank you," she took a moment to examine Big Macintosh in his suit. It was a black tuxedo with elegant golden details. He was a handsome stallion on his own, but she had never seen him all done up like this, he looked like a pony tale prince. "You look really handsome," she complimented.

"Thanks..." Macintosh smiled shyly.

"Princess Rarelight and Chef Maike," Rarity finally decided. It was so much easier to name the characters when she was seeing them. "I finally have names for my characters, now I just have to figure out the rest of the plot. That shouldn't be too hard now that I have my inspiration going. Spike, please take notes."

"Right away!" Spike jumped at the opportunity to help Rarity with her book project and had a quill and parchment ready in no time.

Rarity paced around the room as she spoke. "Princess Rarelight thought she would never find her dream stallion and her only comforts in life were her pony tale books and the delicious treats the castle's main chef, Maike, prepared for her. Maike cared deeply about the princess, he truly loved her, but Rarelight was obsessed with waiting for her perfect stallion prince to appear. She wanted her life to be like the lives of the princesses in her books and would accept nothing less than perfection. Because of that, she was missing out on getting to know a wonderful stallion that wasn't a prince, but had the heart of how a true prince should be."

Everyone listened attentively to Rarity's narration. "Then one day, Princess Rarelight held a grand ball in one last effort to meet her prince. Maike was sad that he couldn't go to the ball as a guest and was instead stuck serving food. However, one of the guests at the ball happened to be a very talented fashion designer, who was also very attentive to matters of the heart and could see that the chef and the princess were each other's true love. So the fashion designer asked Maike to be her model for her new line of stallion attire and thus he changed into an amazing suit right away and returned to the ball in its final hour, blending in with the crowd. He asked Princess Rarelight to dance and she gladly agreed, for she saw that this stallion was with her because he wanted to be and not because of her riches."

Rarity's story was about to reach its climax as Spike speedily took notes of her narration. "Princess Rarelight and Maike danced until the sun came up and the princess asked to know his name and see him again, as he had kept his identity a secret so far. He told her that she already knew him. She tried to see beyond her own misconceptions that a good stallion must be a prince and once she realized how shallow such notions were, she recognized him right away. Thus Princess Rarelight found true love in her dear Maike and they lived happily ever after!"

Rarity's audience clapped. The story was a collection of cliches and things that had been done before, but it was still a good story and it had a positive message, so it deserved to be told. "I got everything written down!" Spike proudly announced.

"Thank you, my little Spiky-whiky, you're such a good helper! And thank you Twilight and Big Mac for being my models for the costumes of Princess Rarelight and Maike," Rarity expressed her gratitude. "To show my gratitude, you can keep those outfits!"

"Wow, thanks Rarity," Twilight smiled.

"Eeyup, thank you Miss Rarity," Big Macintosh added. He didn't have any fancy clothes like this, since he never went anywhere that required him to wear such things, but now he had a fancy suit if he ever needed it. "Ah should really be gettin' back to the farm now."

"Oh of course, duty calls, I'm sorry I took away so much of your time," Rarity voiced. She had certainly gotten caught up on making those costumes.

"It's no trouble, have a good evening every pony." Among the goodbyes of all those present, Big Macintosh glanced at Twilight one last time before leaving. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Spike didn't quite catch the exchange, but Rarity did and she giggled with glee. Maybe she should ask Twilight and Macintosh to be her models more often.

"I should really be on my way too." Twilight voiced. There were several things she needed to catch up with regarding her studies.

Spike organized the parchments of notes and gave them to Rarity, who set them on the table to refer to when she drew the main pictures of the book. He had to finish his chores at the library; he was Twilight's assistant after all. "It was really nice spending the day with you, Rarity."

"I say the same, thank you for having me over," Rarity smiled. After Twilight and Spike left, she began to work on her project right away. She couldn't wait to design costumes for the rest of the attendees of the ball in her story!

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh entered the house, to be greeted by Applejack. "Wow, what's with tha suit there Big Mac? Ah knew ya were fond of Twilight, but Ah didn't think ya'd go and marry her."

"Marry?" Big Macintosh would have turned red if he wasn't already red.

"Cool your hooves there, big bro, Ah'm just kiddin'," Applejack laughed. "That fancy suit's got Rarity written all over it."

"Eeyup," Big Mac admitted. "She was at tha library and asked," more like demanded, "that Twilight and Ah became her models for some costumes she was making. Ah think she was planning a play or somethin'..." The plan was actually to publish a pony tale picture book, but Macintosh logically thought the story was a play because, why would Rarity need to make costumes if it wasn't?

"A play eh? That'd be interesting to see. Ah'm surprised Rarity talked ya into actin' in it, or did she get Twilight tah convince ya?" Applejack curiously inquired.

The world fell on big Mac like a ten ton apple tree. "Acting?" He started to panic. "Nope, no one told me that."

"But you're wearing the costume and it looks like ya even got your mane trimmed," Applejack pointed out. "It looks tah me like you're part of the cast."

Big Macintosh didn't know anything about acting, but he didn't want to disappoint anyone either. He thought he might as well give it a try. "Ahright, Ah'm gonna try."

"Oh, this I have tah see!" Applejack grinned. Maybe she could help out with the props and sceneries. Of course, she would have to know what the setting of the story was before she could offer. Then when the play took place, she would put out a little booth to sell apple treats to the audience. "Dinner's already on the table, Ah can't wait to hear all tha details about the play."

To be Continued

This was supposed to be a short one-shot, as I was dared to write a My Little Pony fanfic. Yet somehow it grew into such a big one-shot that I divided it into three parts. Let me know what you think so far! Disclaimer, I don't own My Little Pony.

xoxox xox xoxox

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	2. Perseverance 2

Perseverance

Part 2: Picking Yourself Up

It was the start of a brand new day and Spike decided to go see Rarity again. She had enjoyed his company during breakfast the previous day, so maybe she would be happy to see him again today. He got up extra early and made a special breakfast for Twilight so she wouldn't feel left out. He could be Rarity's dream stallion and Twilight's number one assistant at the same time. After speedily completing his morning chores at the library, Spike made his way to the Carousel Boutique. The sign on the door read 'closed' and Spike decided to wait. He didn't want to wake Rarity if she was still asleep.

After waiting for a long time, Spike curiously put his ear to the door and heard muffled sounds from inside. Rarity was awake alright and she sounded like she was in distress. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked, so he knocked instead. "I'm sorry; the boutique is closed... forever!" Rarity's dramatic voice cried.

"Rarity, it's me, Spike, please open the door!" Spike pleaded. Rarity was just fine on the previous day. In fact, she was happy. Why was she so distressed all of a sudden?

Rarity opened the door with tears in her eyes and a frustrated pout on her face. "I'm sorry Spike; I'm really not in the mood to see anyone right now."

"Please Rarity, let me talk to you. It makes me sad that you're sad," Spike pleaded.

Rarity just couldn't say no to his adorable pleading face. She let out a breath and stepped aside to let him in. "Alright, come on in."

The inside of the shop was a mess of crumpled up parchments thrown all over the place. Spike set aside the basket of pancakes and other such breakfast treats and picked up one of the parchments on the floor, which had been rolled into a ball. He glanced at Rarity so that she didn't feel he was invading her privacy and when she nodded her approval, he stretched out the parchment. It was a drawing of a unicorn mare and a pony stallion. Their outfits were very detailed, but their expressions were odd and the background was a chaotic mess.

"That was supposed to be a picture of Princess Rarelight and Maike looking into each other's eyes, but it just looks disturbing," Rarity frowned. "I'm just not good at drawing backgrounds and expressions. The only things I ever draw are outfits and my ponies look as stiff as ponyquins. I thought I had found my calling as an illustrator, but I'm just not good at it."

"It's not so bad," Spike tried looking at the picture from a different angle, but the drawing was the same. The outfits were great, but the rest was not. "You just need to practice some more!"

Rarity sighed, "I've been up all night and that's not the only problem. I thought that if I couldn't draw a picture book, I could instead write a novel. After all who doesn't love a good romance novel?" Spike didn't like those, but he decided not to mention it. "That didn't turn out very well either. I tried to make my narration sound pretty, but the words kept slipping out of my grasp and I kept on repeating the same words. I tried using some synonyms from the dictionary I borrowed, but then the story just ended up sounding terribly strange."

"Don't worry, Rarity!" Spike tried to encourage her. "I'm sure Twilight can help you pick the right words and we can all work on the pictures together."

"I'm afraid you're missing the point," Rarity frowned. "All that help is just fine for a project done for the fun of it, but not for a career. I have to be able to do this on my own. Oh, why did I ever think I could be an illustrator? What was I thinking?"

"I don't understand," Spike thought that the book project was for fun. He didn't realize that Rarity was considering it as a serious career option. "Don't you want to be a fashion designer?"

"I can't," Rarity frowned. "My reputation is tarnished, I cannot design again," she sighed sadly.

"Tarnished?" Spike inquired in confusion.

Rarity realized that the conversation was heading down a dangerous road. That letter from the fashion show committee at Los Pegasus had to remain a secret. "It's okay, I won't give up that easily, I'll find another career to dedicate myself to. It will be something that allows me to unleash my passion for creativity!"

A knock on the door interrupted Rarity's melodramatics, followed by Applejack's voice. "Hey, Rarity, are ya home?" The sign on the door read 'closed,' but perhaps Rarity was home and she was simply too busy preparing for the upcoming play to tend to the shop today. Well, Applejack wanted to talk to her about the play, so it was an offer to help more so than an interruption.

Rarity opened the door allowing applejack inside. There was no use in trying to hide her situation from Applejack. That pony could smell hasty excuses from a mile away. "Oh my... What happened here?" Applejack examined the mess of parchments thrown all over the place.

"Just a failed project, but no worries, I'm back on my hooves and ready to tackle the next option... As soon as I think about it," Rarity replied unsure. "What can I help you with, Applejack?"

"Actually," Applejack was still curious about the mess and what Rarity's words really meant, but she decided not to push the issue. Rarity would talk about it soon enough, besides, she was planning to hang around for a while helping with the play preparations, and Rarity wasn't exactly known for her ability to keep emotions bottled up, all the opposite. "Ah was wonderin' if I could help with anythin' for tha play."

"Play?" Rarity tilted her head in confusion as she asked. "What play?"

"Tha one starring Twilight and mah brother," Applejack reminded.

Rarity took a moment to mull over the earth pony's words. "That was supposed to be a picture book story, and then novel, but none of those possibilities worked out, so it can be a play!" This was the perfect opportunity to make things work. A play didn't need fancy illustrations and the script was about dialogue and action rather than poetic descriptions, because every pony would actually be seeing the poetry in motion instead. "Thank you so much for the idea Applejack, and for offering to help." Rarity dug up her draft of the story which had been written by Spike when he took notes for her the previous day. "This is the basic plot of the story. I don't quite have the dialogue planned out, but if you want to look at it to get an idea of what the play is about you're welcome to. I've read these notes so many times I have them memorized, so I'll just go ahead and start working on the dialogue now and show it to you for constructive criticism soon."

"Sure..." As Applejack read over the notes, she wondered just what in the world she had gotten herself into. After a while of thinking about it, with Rarity writing in the background as Spike looked over her shoulder, while sitting on the unicorn's back, Applejack could not hold her honesty in any longer. "Listen, sugar cube," she started gently, her voice causing Rarity to look up from the parchment she was writing on. "Ah don't mean to be harsh or anything, but this story's a bit... oh... well..." The orange earth pony bit her lip, she couldn't lie, she simply couldn't. It might seem merciful for Rarity now, but in the long run, it would only hurt her more. Besides, she did mention wanting constructive criticism. "Tha story's one big collection of cliches!" Applejack blurted out, before swiftly putting her front hooves over her mouth. "Ah'm sorry, that didn't come out quite right."

"Oh, it's alright," Rarity took it rather well. "I already knew the story was full of cliches. I guess it's because I focused more on the ball room scene and the beautiful clothes it would have rather than on the plot. But you're right, if I'm going to be a theatre director, I must pay attention to all the aspects of the play!"

"Tell yah what, sugar cube, why don't we get the whole gang together and work on this as a team?" Applejack suggested. She was sure that at the very least Rainbow Dash would agree that they needed to spice up the play a little.

Rarity knew she had to be able to do this task on her own if she wanted to make a career out of it, but then she remembered that theatrical productions were not run by one pony. She was the director, so it was okay to let someone else handle other aspects of the play. "That sounds like a splendid idea."

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkiepie all gathered at the Carousel Boutique to participate in Rarity's play. Twilight even had a word with the mayor to get permission to perform it in the park, where Big Macintosh, Applejack and Applebloom were building a stage and setting up props. Though the Cutie Mark Crusaders were not originally a part of the plan, they heard about the play and wanted to take part in it. Sweetie Bell was working on lyrics along with Pinkiepie, after the energetic pink pony suggested that the play should be turned into a musical and Rarity approved of the idea. After all, there were so many famous plays that were musicals. At the same time, Pinkiepie was using her boundless supply of energy to come up with choreographies and dance moves with Scootaloo.

It wasn't as easy for Fluttershy to divide herself between two tasks, but she was managing to keep up with Pinkiepie's musical team, planning the melodies to accompany the singing and dancing, while at the same time assisting Rainbow Dash with sound effects. Other than the sound effects, Rainbow Dash would also be working on the special effects. She wanted to incorporate some weather control into the mix to make things grander and Rarity thought it could be rather dramatic, thus agreed. Twilight was scribbling like mad, working on part of the script, while Spike struggled to keep up with her, trying to get other scenes done. Rarity thought that Twilight's script was too ye olde Canterlot style and Spike's was not ye olde Canterlot enough. Together, the two writers tried to find a balance.

As the planning and preparations continued, Rarity found herself less involved in directing and more involved in costume making. She wasn't supposed to be a seamstress anymore, but she couldn't help it. Besides, this was just a small play, not a Canterlot fashion show, so she didn't have to worry about outrageous standards. Either way, this was Rarity, so however small the task may be, she strived for perfection. A few days into the planning and preparation stage, a package arrived in the mail for Rarity with sad bitter memories attached to it. She tucked it away along with the letter from the fashion show at Los Pegasus, as they were both related to the same disaster.

Around that time, Rainbow Dash had to take a break from the play rehearsals, though the performance night was rapidly approaching and the play was still not solid. Nonetheless, she had tickets to a show where the Wonder Bolts would be and Rarity knew she couldn't keep Rainbow away from that. It was an activity at Los Pegasus that would begin with a fashion show competition and end with the Wonder Bolts' performance. The next day would give way to a theatre festival after the opening ceremony. Rainbow Dash wasn't planning to stay for the festival and didn't care about the fashion show. She was only going to see the Wonder Bolts after being lucky enough to manage to get her hooves on a ticket. "What I don't understand," Rainbow Dash had commented during rehearsal the day before she left. "Is what does prissy fashion have to do with the Wonder Bolts?"

"It's not about the fashion or the Wonder Bolts," Twilight had tried to explain. "It's about the theatre. A theatre production involves a lot of work, as we have been learning for the past few days. It involves costumes as well as acting and choreographing. Those elements can be seen during the opening ceremony of the theatre festival."

"I guess so," Rainbow Dash admitted, not that she was any less annoyed at having to sit through a fashion show before she got to see the Wonder Bolts. She considered being late, but she didn't want to risk missing a single second of the Wonder Bolts or not being able to find a good spot near the outdoors stage where the Wonder Bolts would take off from and later land. Thus she would have to sit through the boring old fashion show. Rarity would have loved it though, which reminded Rainbow Dash of something else. "Hey Rarity, didn't you say something about sending a dress for the fashion competition?"

Rarity bit her lip. If her dress was still in the competition she would have replied cheerfully and ask Rainbow Dash to pick up her price for her. Of course, Rainbow would refuse, not wanting to look 'uncool' in front of the Wonder Bolts and they would all have a laugh. But such was not reality. "I will not be taking part in the competition," Rarity had replied simply. She averted her eyes away from her friends and focused on a parchment. "Shall we rehearse the scene at the end of the ball where part two begins?" A whole second part to the story was added to add more action to the script, though the topic of romance was still the center piece at the end.

Remembering the theatre festival's opening ceremony only made Rarity think about the package and the letter and she didn't want to think about that. She had already left her problem behind hasn't she? Surely Rainbow Dash's trip to Los Pegasus wouldn't leave her with any inconvenient information, right? Of course not, she was just being paranoid. Rainbow wouldn't even be paying attention to the fashion show, let alone to the talk going on about it, or the rumors surrounding it. Rarity took a deep breath and assured herself that the secret of her fashion designing career's end was safe. No one would ever know.

xoxox xox xoxox

The night of the opening ceremony, Rainbow Dash was so excited about seeing the Wonder Bolts that she didn't even care that she was dressed formally. She didn't bother going to Rarity for a new outfit, as she didn't really want one, even if Rarity would have insisted if she wasn't so distracted by the play and, unknown to Rainbow Dash, distracted by her secret sorrows. Thus Rainbow just wore the dress from the Grand Galloping Gala and impatiently waited through the fashion show which turned out to be rather short. Despite her usual impatience, she had tried to mentally prepare herself to endure the boredom of a long parade of froo-froo dresses, but it wasn't so long after all. Then finally, there was an extra long performance by the Wonder Bolts.

Rainbow Dash couldn't be happier by the end of the event. She was ready to head on to the train station and fall asleep on the last train to Ponyville that night, but had an unexpected delay as she was about to rush off to catch the train. "Rainbow Dash!"

The fast pegasus looked around to see who was calling her in such a loud voice. To her surprise, she found none other than Princess Luna addressing her. "Princess Luna!" Rainbow exclaimed before she could stop herself.

"Good evening," Luna tried to moderate her voice so that it wasn't so loud.

"Good evening princess, wasn't the Wonder Bolt's show awesome?" Rainbow cheered.

Luna smiled at her conversation being so warmly welcomed. "Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Although because of the mishaps with the fashion show, they had to prolong their performance last minute. Though I did enjoy the show, I imagine the Wonder Bolts must be exhausted."

"Maybe, but it was well worth it!" Rainbow happily exclaimed. Then she realized that what she said didn't entirely sound very nice. "Wait a minute, did you say mishaps?"

"Yes, it was quite troublesome." Luna reached her chariot, but she was not done speaking with Rainbow Dash and didn't want to leave in the middle of the conversation, nor did she want to stand there. "Do join me, won't you? I can give you a ride to Ponyville if that is where you are headed."

"It is, well Cloudsdale actually, but that's right over Ponyville and I would be happy to join you, thank you!" Rainbow hopped on to the chariot, it did look pretty cool.

"Driver, make a stop at Cloudsdale on our way to Canterlot. Now, where was I?" Luna continued as the chariot took off. "Ah yes, the disaster at the fashion show. It was quite regrettable. One of the designers, Fashionista, hired ponies all over Equestria to sabotage her competitors by keeping them busy with rush orders and attacking their confidence with harsh critiques. I heard that one of them even pushed one of the competitors to throw her across a street and then reported it as an uncalled for assault and got the competitor banned from participating. It happened several times before the committee managing the event took notice of the suspicious pattern and investigated. Of course, Fashionista was banned from competing when her cheating was discovered, but it was too late for the other designers who didn't have time to send in their dresses or whose dresses were send back, as the packages had already been mailed back to them. That is why the fashion show was so short."

Realization donned on Rainbow Dash as she recalled a particular event. She was on cloud cleaning duty, just passing over Rarity's shop. From her perch on a cloud above, she saw a pink unicorn fly out of the shop and land across the street. She thought it was hilarious and wanted to go see what happened to lead to it. However, Ditzy Doo bumped into her, literally, soon after and distracted Rainbow Dash, thus she forgot about going over to ask Rarity what happened. "That story sounds very familiar," Rainbow voiced. It couldn't be a coincidence that Rarity didn't enter the competition.

Then another memory resurfaced for Rainbow Dash and suddenly the bag of bits tugged into her dress felt terribly heavy. Just as she was leaving for Los Pegasus, Spike secretly gave her the coins and asked her to get a souvenir for Rarity if they had them available at the fashion show. Rainbow Dash protested, but Spike's pleading look ultimately got to her. Rainbow did mention that they might not even have souvenirs, as it was more so a show than a fair. The dragon thus asked her to pick up a nice gift for Rarity then. That sounded like a more do-able request, though what Rainbow and Rarity would define as a 'nice gift' might greatly differ.

"Was it a friend of yours?" Luna asked, waking Rainbow Dash from her pensive daze.

"Probably," Rainbow admitted. "I also just remembered something else..." Oh well, she was already on her way to Ponyville and she couldn't ask Luna to turn around after she so kindly gave her a ride in her awesome chariot. Surely Spike would understand that there was little room for anything else in her thoughts when the Wonder Bolts were near by, but that felt somewhat disloyal and Rainbow didn't like it.

Rainbow thought about a past lesson she and her friends had learned from Spike. It involved the young dragon running around like crazy trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Rarity. He followed her around everywhere in hopes that the observation would help him figure out what he could give her that she liked and didn't already have. In the end, he got distracted and didn't have anything to give her when the moment arrived, taking Spike by surprise. No pony reminded him that the time of the party was upon them because every pony thought that after Spike obsessed about it so much, his mind was constantly on the date and time.

Yet Spike had lost track of time spending time with Rarity, while every pony assumed that he was purposely distracting her so that the party's preparations could remain a surprise. Even so, Rarity insisted when Spike profusely apologize for the lack of the 'super awesome expensive gift' he so wanted to give her, that he had given her a wonderful day, helped her a lot and that his company was the best present she could get. Spike still insisted on giving Rarity a late birthday present on the next day and after much fussing, Twilight suggested a bouquet of flowers, which Spike did give Rarity and she loved them.

Taking the event into consideration and the lesson Spike wrote about to Princess Celestia, also sharing it with the group, Rainbow Dash recalled that a gift didn't have to be a material thing. It could be an action, for example. Once again, Rainbow Dash was brought out of her thoughts by Luna as the night princess asked. "What were you remembering? It seems to trouble you."

"I was thinking about some friends," Rainbow Dash started to explain. "What do you think would make a fashion designer happy?" If she didn't have time to pick up a gift from Los Pegasus, Rainbow would at least help Spike with an idea.

"If a lot of ponies wear the designs, I think that would make the designer happy," Luna replied. She theorized that Rainbow was indeed thinking about how to cheer up a friend of hers that was kept from the fashion competition tonight. She thought about the other ponies she had met along with Twilight Sparkle and Rarity stood out when she tried to match the image of a fashion designer to one of them. Luna didn't hear the details about the thrown across the street story, but that wasn't important now, as nothing could be done. The committee would take care of sending their letter of apology, but the competition simply couldn't have been postponed.

Rainbow Dash nodded at Luna's suggestion. "That's true..." Although she wasn't sure how any pony could make that idea work. She wanted to give Spike some really good advice to make up for forgetting to buy the present. A lot of ponies wearing Rarity's designs would make her very happy, but how would Spike go about making it happen? Didn't a lot of ponies already wear clothes made by Rarity on occasion? Even she was wearing one of Rarity's creations right now.

There was always next year, but for the time being, Rarity would need something to cheer up and this was Luna's opportunity to show support for one of her subjects. After all, Rarity was one of the elements of harmony who helped her recover her true self when she was Nightmare Moon. The princess smiled as an idea came to her. "Would a princess wearing a dress made by her bring Rarity happiness?"

Rainbow Dash's face lit up. "I'm pretty sure that would make her very happy!"

"Then it shall be done!" Luna spoke too loudly again and Rainbow Dash nearly fell out of the rapidly moving chariot. With a flap of her wings, the speedy pegasus climbed back on and smiled reassuringly at the princess, who continued. "Please ask Rarity to design a dress for me. I have no specifications, let her have full creative freedom in designing what she thinks will fit me best. There is also no due date, let Rarity relax and take her time."

"Thanks Princess Luna! I'm sure that'll make Rarity very happy. I'll tell Spike and he can tell her, because I'm sure it'll make him happy to give Rarity this present, the opportunity I mean, it's like the perfect gift for Rarity!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Luna laughed fondly, she was the one getting a new dress and yet it was like a gift for Rarity. "I am pleased to be able to make my subjects happy." The night princess felt a warm satisfaction like she had not felt since Nightmare Night.

Some time later, Luna's chariot made a stop at Cloudsdale where Rainbow Dash got off. Her only regret was that it was late and most pegasus were asleep, thus it was unlikely that anyone saw her super cool arrival riding around on that awesome chariot, it was really fast too. After exchanging goodbyes with Princess Luna, who turned out to be extra cool after getting to know her a little better, Rainbow Dash headed home and took off her fancy dress, and not a moment too soon. Rainbow went to sleep imagining Spike's face the next day when she told him the kind of present she managed to find for Rarity and it didn't even cost any bits. Then she imagined Rarity's expression and wondered if Pinkiepie would take her up on a bet on whether or not Rarity would faint. Rainbow Dash would bet that she would, of course. Than again, who would actually bet that she wouldn't?

xoxox xox xoxox

Yet another day rolled around and the play was starting to look more solid. After staying up late, Rainbow Dash slept in and was swamped with weather chores when she did get up. Thus mid day arrived and she still had not had the opportunity to tell Spike about the gift. Spike was currently at Rarity's house, helping her put together a few last minute accessories for the play. "I think this is it." She levitated a quill and made a check mark on the list that Twilight had prepared for her. The purple unicorn was acting more so as the director, while Rarity fell into the role of costume designer. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, but this was only her first play and Rarity reasoned that she was still getting the hang of it. Although she had to admit, she would much rather focus on the costumes than on anything else.

Yet she wasn't a fashion designer anymore. She had been purposely avoiding the papers and magazines because she didn't want to read any articles gossiping about what a brute she was. The dress she made for the Los Pegasus fashion contest was in a box in the bottom of her closet along with the letter from the committee banning her from the competition because of her behavior. She couldn't help it though; her anger turned her into a beast. She sighed and bowed never to blow her temper like that again.

The next time she was angry, she would express herself with words and she wouldn't throw ponies across streets... Unless they initiated the physical violence, of course, she wouldn't just stand there getting beaten or letting her friends get beaten, but she wouldn't act in such an unladylike manner unless it was as a last resort of self-defense. For anything less, a few well placed scolding words would be used instead. Even so, she couldn't get herself to feel regret. She felt embarrassed because she didn't behave like a lady and she was upset at the consequences, but those emotions were different from regret.

She finished setting up a little lunch for Spike and herself. He mentioned he would come over to see her after he finished his library chores in the morning. Though his excuse was more along the lines of taking the final version of the script to her for one last revision. Albeit the script had been under development the whole time, they had been rehearsing and incorporating the changes as they went along with the process, thus they were not too behind.

"I'm here," Spike announced as he entered the shop and followed the scent of food to the kitchen. "Hey Rarity, I picked up your mail for you, the mail box seemed pretty full."

"Oh... thank you," Rarity made herself smile. She was afraid she would be tempted to read the fashion magazines she subscribed to and find something terrible written there about herself, thus she avoided getting them out of her mailbox. She took the magazines and letters, making them float away with her unicorn magic. She separated the magazines from the letters and stuffed the magazines into a cupboard before she was too tempted to read them. Spike thought it was an odd place to keep magazines, but he didn't question it. Rarity looked over the letters. A pink envelope from Pinkiepie provided a reminder that Gummy's half-way birthday party was that evening. As if Pinkiepie herself didn't give them enough reminders with her excitement. A pale blue envelope from Los Pegasus made her re-live the moment when she opened another similar envelope with dreadful news. She was certain that Stylista ruined her reputation, and the way she was banned from the competition was so shameful.

"Rarity?" Spike asked in worry. "Are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I'm fine," Rarity forced a smile, but her face twitched nervously.

"No, you're not," Spike frowned. "Please tell me the truth. Don't you trust me?" He pouted cutely.

Rarity could do little else but to pout back. Lately she had developed quite a weakness to Spike's pleading face. But no, she couldn't tell Spike, she couldn't tell anyone, especially not Spike. He would blame herself for the incident and feel guilty, which would only make Rarity feel worse. "It's nothing really," she shoved the envelope that had come all the way from the theatre festival committee at Los Pegasus into the cupboard where the magazines were, hiding it like something shameful, because to the best of her knowledge, it was.

"Spike! Are you here?" Rainbow Dash's voice surprisingly called from the entrance of Rarity's home.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Spike called back automatically.

In seconds, Rainbow Dash was there, "Hey Spike, Rarity." She greeted them. "I have something to tell you Spike, come over here a second, okay?" The speedy pegasus retreated to the shop area.

Spike followed her curiously, "I'll be right back I guess."

"Okay..." Rarity found that the occurrence was strange, but she let it pass. Her curiosity was killing her. Even if reading that letter from the committee only brought her grief, she simply had to read it. She took a deep breath and retrieved the envelope from the cupboard, opening it. Her face was filled with relief as she read through the letter. So it was Fashionista who hired Stylista to sabotage her. That dirty cheat didn't belong in the glamour of the fashion world! At least the committee had apologized and lifted their ban. This year's competition was over, but there was always next year. Even so, what if all the things Stylista had said were true? What if her other customers were just being mercifully polite? The seed of doubt had already taken root in Rarity's heart and it would take more than an apology from a group of strangers to get it out.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, away from Rarity's hearing range in the shop area of the Carousel Boutique, Rainbow Dash proudly gave Spike the news. "I went looking for you at the library, but you weren't there, so I gave the bits to Twilight."

"You did?" Spike looked disappointed. He was wondering what kind of gift Rainbow Dash picked out at Los Pegasus, but it turns out there was no gift after all.

"Yup, because the awesome gift I got for you to give Rarity was free," Rainbow declared.

Now Spike was really curious, "for free? But what kind of gift could you possibly have gotten that was that awesome and free?"

"I had a talk with Luna last night," Rainbow Dash began to explain.

"Princess Luna?" Spike gasped in surprise.

"That's right," Rainbow assured. "She gave me a ride home in her super cool chariot, that thing's fast, it was awesome!"

Sensing that Rainbow Dash was getting off topic, Spike tried to get her back into it. "So about the gift?"

"Luna suggested it herself," Rainbow revealed. "It would make Rarity happy if a princess wears a dress made by her, right? I mean she got all excited about it when Princess Candence and Shining Armor got married. So now she has the chance to make a dress for Princess Luna! Luna said there was no due date and no specifics, so Rarity can take her time making any kind of dress she wants!"

"That's amazing! You rock, Rainbow Dash!" Spike cheered.

Rainbow chuckle, "yeah, I know, I'm awesome." The pegasus gladly accepted the dragon's compliments. "Well, go on then, go give Rarity the present."

"Right!" Spike jumped with excitement. "Thanks again for getting such an awesome present for Rarity. This is definitely better than a souvenir!"

"I bet she faints," Rainbow Dash joked, though she fully expected it to happen.

"Oh, you're right; I should probably tell her in the livingroom." Spike didn't take the bet against Rainbow because, really, who would? "Rarity, could you come over to the living room for a moment?"

"I'll be right there!" Rarity answered from the kitchen where she was frantically reading over the fashion magazines. If there had been any negative articles about her, then she now had the power to rebuke them with the letter of apology. So far she hasn't actually found any articles, so she wondered if it was all just paranoia, but she would make sure to go through all the magazines later just in case. Besides, she liked reading fashion magazines.

Rarity found a smiling Spike and Rainbow Dash at her living room. The white unicorn wondered if Rainbow was about to play a prank on her. Spike wouldn't be in on it, would he? Her little Spiky-whiky? Spike sat on the couch and patted the space next to him while Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the setting, but remained silent. "Have a seat Rarity; I have something to talk to you about."

Reluctantly, Rarity sat down. She didn't know what she was suddenly so nervous about. It's just that their behavior was so odd, as if they knew something she didn't and they were about to drop the bomb on her. "What did you want to tell me?" The suspense was killing her!

Spike puffed up his chest in pride and happily informed. "I asked Rainbow Dash to pick up a present for you from Los Pegasus and she just delivered it to me, so I'm going to give it to you now." He couldn't not give credit to Rainbow Dash after she managed to obtain such an awesome present that was so perfect for Rarity.

Rarity let out a breath of relief. So all this suspense was about giving her a present? That made things a lot easier. She didn't know what kind of gift it could be, but none the less she appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you, that's such a sweet thing to do."

"And you haven't even heard what the present is yet," Spike continued.

He would have held the suspense going for a little longer, if not for Rainbow Dash's impatience. "Spit it out already!"

"Alright, alright!" Spike took a deep breath and revealed the big secret. "This present is not a material thing for you, but it does kind of involve you giving something to someone else. Even so, it's kind of a present for you because I'm pretty sure it'll make you very happy. None other than the famous Princess Luna of Equestria wants you to make a dress for her. No specifics, no time limits, you have all the time and freedom to let your imagination flow."

Spike and Rainbow's guessed have been correct, as Rarity promptly fainted. The purpose of the dragon's strategic position became clear as the back of Rarity's head landed on his lap, her soft violet mane bouncing around it in its perfect curls.

xoxox xox xoxox

Eventually, Rarity woke up and as soon as she did she nervously told Spike and Rainbow about her crazy dream where she had to design a dress for Princess Luna. Once it was made clear that it wasn't a dream, she fainted again. When she woke up the second time, she didn't even bother to sit up and just closed her eyes, suddenly too tired to move her head off Spike's lap. There was no time limit, but she couldn't keep a princess waiting for too long. There were also no limits in terms of what the dress could be like, but that also meant that there were no guidelines. What if the princess hated the dress? Then Rarity would really be ruined. Besides, she was in the theatre business now.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was still a fashion designer deep down, or perhaps not so deep down. Maybe she shouldn't have recoiled at the first sign of big difficulties. She had challenges before, but this occurrence felt like too much. Rarity felt that she had to realize that sometimes things like this would happen, that even when she tried her best, she might not win everyone's approval. But that wasn't the end; she had to keep on going. No one reached a big success without a few failures, big and small, along the way. She felt Spike gently petting her mane trying to soothe her and remembered that no matter how harsh the road may be, she didn't have to walk it alone.

"Thank you," Rarity finally opened her eyes, looking up at Spike's concerned face. "I really liked the gift." She sad up slowly, "thank you too, Rainbow Dash."

The pegasus nodded, "you're welcome, but was all that drama really needed? I mean, you fainted twice in a row for the same reason."

"I'm just very impressed," Rarity assured with a smile that was weary but real.

"No kidding," Rainbow chuckled. "Well, see you around you two; I have to go practice for the play. I get to play the villain and you know what they say, it takes real skill to be a cool villain. Mwahahaha!" Rainbow Dash happily trotted out of Carousel Boutique, practicing her evil laugh and freaking out a few passer by ponies along the way.

Rarity still had her doubts, but she was learning to be stronger, starting to pick herself up after the fall. She was learning the true meaning of perseverance. She wondered what would have happened if she had not received that letter of apology. Surely her friends would eventually pick up on the specifics of her problem. She already knew they were aware that something was bothering her and since she didn't share what it was, they could only hope the play would cheer her up. If she had not received that letter, she knew she would have ended up confessing her worries. She would have hurt Spike with her confession and it would take a lot to reassure him.

Just as she would reassure him, he would reassure her and all their friends would reassure them both. Then eventually, she would muster the strength to stand again and so would he. She would gain the courage to openly design fashion without the mask of needing costumes for a play. She did enjoy the experience of designing for a theatrical production and would like to do that again, albeit organizing the entire play might be a little too much. Rarity smiled, "perseverance," that one word seemed to come out of nowhere from Spike's perspective and he gave Rarity a curious look. The elegant unicorn smiled. "I just learned what it means."

"From Twilight's dictionary?" Spike inquired.

Rarity laughed, "no, I learned it from life itself. Thank you for being there for me, my little Spiky-whiky."

Spike smiled back. "Then you're feeling better now? You must be, right? Because your smile is different now, it's so real."

Rarity felt a warmth in her heart seeing that Spike knew her in such detail so as to catch when her smile was real. "That's right," her smile grew. "Could you write a letter for me?"

"Of course!" Spike quickly got a parchment and quill.

Rarity began to dictate the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia, I have learned that perseverance doesn't simply mean moving on from a bad situation. It means facing it. This is not an easy task, but in the end, running away from the problem doesn't solve anything. Besides, it's always very encouraging to know that whatever I have to face, my friends will be there to help me. Sincerely, Rarity."

Spike finished the letter and sent it, then he started writing a letter of his own. "Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that even if you don't know exactly what is bothering someone important to you, just being there and your showing support can make them feel better. Sincerely, Spike." He sent his letter as well.

Rarity couldn't help it, but to let out a little giggle. "Just so that you don't have to be burdened with the mystery, my problem was that I had lost confidence as a fashion designer, but I'm feeling much better now."

"Really?" Spike looked at Rarity in disbelief. "But your designs are amazing, anyone can see that!"

"Thank you, my little Spiky-whiky, I think I can face the world as a fashion designer once again," Rarity smiled. She glanced at her clock on the wall. "Oh my, it's already afternoon and we didn't touch our lunch." They returned to the kitchen, where Rarity gasped in disbelief. "Opalessence!" She had only herself to blame for this. "I'm so sorry I was late in feeding you, but you didn't have to jump on the table and dig through our lunch!" The cat didn't really like the food so she didn't eat more than a nibble here and there, but she certainly made a mess of the rest.

"I'll help clean up," Spike offered, getting started on the table. Opalessence hissed at him, but made no real efforts to stop his progress as she jumped to the floor.

"Here you go, now you behave, young lady." Rarity put out Opalessence's cat food, which the cat eagerly ate.

"Since our lunch plans are cancelled, what do you say we head on over to Pinkie's early? She was so eager for this party that even if it's supposed to be this evening, she probably has a lot of food out already," Spike suggested.

"You're probably right," Rarity agreed.

To be Continued

Part 2 is the longest of the three, so I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make the story like an episode, with some added light shipping. Just one more part to go to wrap things up and perform the play.


	3. Perseverance 3

Perseverance

Part 3: Dusting Yourself Off

Gummy's half-way birthday party went well and every pony had fun. Rarity's tension lessened and she found herself able to sketch up some drafts for Luna's dress. She was even excited for it, so excited that she even began working on it, and by the time the night of the play arrived, the dress was done along with a beautiful assortment of jewelry to go with it. Rarity stepped back to admire her work. She had to modify one of her ponyquins to make it as tall as Princess Luna so she could work more comfortably. She glanced at the clock on the wall, realizing that she should be on her way to the park if she didn't want to be late.

Rarity heard someone enter the shop, assuming that it was Spike, as the sweet dear had mentioned wanting to walk with her to the park. There was Spike alright, but he wasn't the only one. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkiepie were all there. There was also one more pony present that made Rarity want to faint again. Thankfully, she managed to keep herself conscious and greet her. "Good evening Princess Luna!" She bowed somewhat nervously. What would Luna think about the dress?

"Good evening Rarity," Luna replied in a refined manner, though thankfully not in the royal Canterlot voice, as the loud volume would have startled Rarity, who was already on edge.

Nervously, the white unicorn motioned towards the dress and accessories on the tall ponyquin. "How do you like the dress and accessories, princess? I can make any changes you need."

Luna smiled as she examined the dress. "I never expected it to be finished so soon." She walked in circles around the ponyquin, examining the ensemble from different angles. "When Twilight Sparkle wrote about the play, I didn't expect to also be getting the dress on the same night!"

"Then you approve of it?" Rarity asked with hope filled eyes.

"I love it," Luna smiled. "I almost forgot; here is a letter from my sister to all of you. While you read it, may I try on the dress?"

"Of course!" Rarity voice excitedly as she received the letter. She opened it up and began to read for the group. "To my dear friends, I want to wish you the best of luck on tonight's play, I'm sure you will all do wonderfully. Unfortunately, my royal duties prevent me from being able to make it, but my sister will be attending the play and I'm sure you'll put on a wonderful show for her and every pony there. Remember, the most important thing is to enjoy it. Best wishes, Princess Celestia."

Just as Rarity was done reading the letter, Luna stepped out from behind the changing screen. She was a little worried about having given creative freedom to Rarity. What if what she thought fitted her best was a dark nightmarish attire? Pretending to be Nightmare Moon during Nightmare Night was alright, but she didn't want to be seen as scary all the time. She had hoped to stop by before attending the play to see if Rarity had any drafts for the dress and give a few gentle suggestions. Hopefully that wouldn't discourage the designer from making the dress, but the princess would ensure that the outfit didn't turn out too dark. Yet this was beyond her expectations.

Princess Luna looked beautiful in the gown. It started out with deep blue silk with small diamonds decorating it. The silk faded into a lighter blue until it became silver at the end with a line of larger diamonds at the hem. The accessories complimented Luna wonderfully. The necklace was somehow carved from a particularly large diamond that Rarity took a lot of time and effort to find in between play rehearsals. The designer was relieved to see that it fit Luna very well, as she was only going on her own observations, since she didn't have the opportunity to take the princess' measurements. At the center of the diamond necklace, there was a deep blue sapphire that matched the color of the top of the dress. Matching shoes covered Luna's hooves with diamonds and sapphires. There was even a pair of long earring, which cascaded in diamonds and sapphires.

Luna admired her reflection in the mirror. She didn't look threatening or scary in the least. She looked serene, soothing like a sweet calm night. She looked like a dream. Her eyes almost watered at seeing herself like this. "Thank you very much, Rarity. I will make sure to appropriately reward you for this beautiful gown and accessories."

"Oh princess, I couldn't accept anything in exchange." Rarity insisted, filled with positive emotion that everything went so well in the end. "Giving this gift to you is a gift for me. I am honored that you would wear it."

Luna continued smiling. "Then I shall show it to Ponyville tonight as I attend the play." Rarity couldn't hold it in any longer and finally fainted.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Rarity woke up, the group made their way to the park. The stage and props looked amazing. Rarity had not had time to go look at them, but she had to admit that the Apples did a great job. Basically all of Ponyville was gathered around the stage. There were even a multitude of white fluffy clouds forming a sort of floating second floor to allow more room, with a multitude of Cloudsdale residents ready to watch the play from there.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders spotted the princess and, after they were done staring in awe, they exclaimed. "Cutie Mark Crusaders royal escorts!" The three young fillies led Princess Luna to the spot they had reserved for her, front row center, where she would have a perfect view of the stage.

Luna kindly thanked the fillies and took her seat. She listened as the people around her murmured and her remaining uneasiness melted away. They weren't afraid of her, they were all talking about how beautiful, peaceful and serene she looked. She might have had her doubts at first, but now she was glad she came.

Everyone took their positions and the play finally begun with Spike's narration. "Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived Princess Rarelight. The princess had a beautiful kingdom and loyal friends, but she felt that there was something missing in her life and that something was love."

The curtain rose to reveal Twilight Sparkle in a lovely dress among many books. Rarity insisted that the princess should change her gowns with each new scene, so she had an entire wardrobe for Twilight. She would be getting some backstage changing help from her friends. "Oh how I wish I could meet, the stallion of my dreams." Twilight exclaimed dreamily in a sing-song voice. "He would be the perfect prince, just like in the books they print." Many books were all over the stage to help provide more ambience to the scene of the princess' room in the background.

To say Big Macintosh was nervous was an understatement. He found himself wishing that instead of an earth pony he was a pegasus so he could fly away or a unicorn so he would teleport and escape even faster. Applejack game him a little push, unseen at the side of the stage. "Princess, ah made your favorite snack, cause I saw you were sad."

"Oh dear friend don't you know? My sadness is something I cannot ignore!" Twilight sang with Fluttershy's bird chorus providing the background music. "There is much work to do today, for I cannot live on to another gray day. A magnificent ball shall be tonight, starting when the stars do shine bright. When the ball is over I shall be, safe in the arms of my perfect prince!"

Thus the play continued with Twilight and Macintosh dancing. Then the curtain dropped and with such speed that the audience was astonished at how quickly they changed the scenery, another scene began. The next scene featured Pinkiepie, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo playing the palace servants getting everything ready for the ball. After that came the scene that Rarity was most excited for, the ball itself. Though in the end, the character of the fashion designer was replaced with three fairies which were also played by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they looked quite different in their new costumes.

The play smoothly flowed along to the dance between Princess Rarelight and Maike. Everything was going beautifully up until then. Next up followed the added action adventure parts of the play. The evil Monochrome, who was ironically played by Rainbow Dash, appeared to ruin the princess' love. "Stop right now, for this I cannot tolerate. Don't you know, that love I shall obliterate? For I am cold and I have no heart and this world I shall tear apart. When you are lost deep in the dark, great sorrow shall this kingdom mark! Mwahahaha!" Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash got a little too carried away with the thunder and lightning and ended up breaking one of the stage's side columns that held the curtains and the rest of the set together.

For a dreadful moment it looked at if the pillar would fall towards the audience, but Big Macintosh rushed over to hold it in place. "Come fight me evil fiend!"

Thinking on her feet, or rather, on her wings. Rainbow Dash flew after Big Macintosh away from the spectator's view. Finally the pillar was steadied and the play could go on... somehow.

Twilight was left to improvise, but being the big planner and scheduler she was, that was not something she was good at. Spike tried to save her with his narration. "The brave Maike led the evil Monochrone away from Princess Rarelight, risking his life to protect her!"

Twilight reacted and tried to follow along with the new plot twist. "Oh my beloved Maike! You are so noble to risk your life for me. Oh please, my love, return to me safely!"

While Twilight struggled to make up some lines to fill up time, back stage, Rainbow Dash apologized profusely. "It's okay," Rarity spoke firmly, ending Rainbow's rapid stream of 'I'm so sorry.' "We'll just have to continue somehow, the show must go on!" Goodness, fashion shows were a lot less stressful than this. Rarity had been using her magic to help Twilight with her fast costume changes and also to set up the stage. Her horn was sore from all the magic she had used lately, it didn't help that she had spend the whole day finishing Luna's dress and the days before that working on it. "I'll just hold that in place..." She tried to focus but her psychic grip failed her.

"Forget it, yer too exhausted right now." Applejack glanced at the stage from it's side next to Big Mac where the audience couldn't see her. "Pinkiepie, it's time for the fateful servant to go cheer up the princess and... and..."

"Tell her not to give up hope?" Fluttershy suggested. If she was nervous just being backstage, she couldn't even begin to imagine how poor Twilight felt.

"Right!" Pinkiepie rushed out to improvise a hopeful song. Much to Twilight's relief, she suggested that the princess should rest, while she continued entertaining the audience with her antics. People found it to be pretty funny, even though it was supposed to be a tragic scene. Poor Maike could be dead for all Rarelight knew. At least the audience would be entertained for now.

Twilight joined the others backstage letting out a breath of relief. "How are things back here?"

"My magic is exhausted and my horn is killing me," Rarity confessed.

"I still have some magic," Twilight looked at the pillar Macintosh was holding. "I can hold that with my magic."

"Don' trouble yerself' Miss Twilight, Ah got it." Macintosh smiled despite the uncomfortable position he was on.

"This is no time to be chivalrous; you have to go back on stage!" Rarity reminded. Then another thought occurred to her. "How are we going to change the scenes and costumes fast enough without unicorn magic, not to, mention assist with additional special effects? I'm going to need some time to recover."

"Leave it to me," Twilight offered.

"And who will play Rarelight? I wouldn't mind taking the stage, but how would we explain that the princess is suddenly different? And what about Maike? We can't just say that Monochrome killed him. This story is supposed to have a happy ending!"

"Ah don' know about that, but it looks like Pinkiepie's gettin' tired," Applejack pointed out. "She's still jumping around like it's nothin' but she's making less and less sense," and she usually didn't make a whole lot of sense to begin with.

Rarity took a deep breath; she was supposed to be this play's director so she better start directing. "Applejack, signal Pinkiepie to finish her performance before she says something weird, er, weirder. Everyone, except Big Macintosh since you are very busy with a vital task, as soon as those curtains are down, I want you to turn this stage into an evil lair." The others exchanged confused glances. There weren't supposed to be any evil lairs. They were supposed to be fighting in the royal courtyard of Rarelight's castle. "Work with me here, just be creative!" Rarity pleaded.

Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo saluted chorusing. "Cutie Mark Crusaders evil lair builders!"

Rarity continued with her improvised plans. "Rainbow Dash, do you think you can go out there and improvise some gloating for Monochrome's victory against Maike? Just be careful with the special effects this time, but keep the crowd entertained. Applejack, I know you were supposed to be backstage, but I need you to act as Rarelight's royal knight, Sir... Sir Apple! Who has gone to search for the missing Maike in hopes of reuniting him with Princess Rarelight. Put up a mock fight with Monochrome and make it long, but entertaining. Don't win though; the main character has to be the one to win."

"We're on it!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack exclaimed.

"Twilight, since I know you don't like improvising and because my magic is exhausted for tonight, please take my place managing everything backstage where magic is needed. Is that okay?" Rarity asked.

Twilight looked relieved. "It's very much okay."

"Sorry Big Mac, but I can't pull you away from holding the stage in place while the show is still going, Twilight's magic will be busy and without magic, no one else is strong enough to stop the stage from falling apart. Do you mind giving your character to someone else?" Rarity inquired apologetically.

"Nope," Big Macintosh immediately replied. He had enough of being on stage with all eyes on him to last him a life time.

"Rarity, Rarity, what should I do?" Spike jumped around flailing his arms in excitement. He wanted to help too.

"Be my prince," Rarity's words made Spike's heart skip a beat and he promptly fainted. "Oh, my little Spiky-whiky, it's okay, you don't have to act in the play if you don't want to! I'll just get um..." Rarity looked around desperately. "I'll just get Fluttershy to hide her wings, dress up as a stallion and play the part of the prince. After all we can't disappoint every pony. Don't forget that all of Ponyville and Cloudsdale are out there and even Princess Luna."

"Me?" Not it was Fluttershy's turn to faint.

"Oh come on Fluttershy, playing a stallion can't be that bad, Rainbow Dash did it when she played Commander Hurricane, remember? And Twilight dressed up as an elderly stallion for Nightmare Night."

"I was Starswirl the bearded!" Twilight argued, while at the same time tending to her new duties concerning the play.

"I don't think Fluttershy fainted because of the costume. I think she just doesn't want to go on stage," Spike pointed out. "But I'm awake and ready to be," he sighed happily, "you're prince."

"If you're sure you can do this, my little Spiky-whiky." Rarity didn't want to pressure Spike, but she really needed him to say yes.

"You can count on me!" Spike assured.

"Alright then, let's do this!" Rarity began to put on her costume as she explained. "After Sir Apple fails to defeat Monochrome, Princess Rarelight sets out on a quest to rescue her beloved herself. However, because she's a princess, she'll be going in disguise, in fact, you can mention the fairies changed her. I need you to narrate all that, well not all that, just the parts that are needed for the story. You get the point."

"Got it!" Spike nodded in understanding, his full attention on Rarity as she went on.

"I'll go on stage with my loyal servant and find Sir Apple. I'll have Pinkie take Applejack off stage to heal Sir Apple's wounds back in the castle, while Princess Rarelight, bravely faces off against Monochrome," Rarity explained. "Seeing that Rarelight's love is so strong that she is unbeatable, Monochrome intends to break that love by unleashing a ferocious dragon upon Rarelight, that's you Spike."

Spike pouted, "but I thought I was supposed to be Maike!"

Pulling on her accessories as quickly as possible, Rarity finished her explanation. "You are. It's just that I need to explain why Maike is suddenly a dragon. Monochrome cursed him into becoming a ferocious beast, but Rarelight's love brought him to his senses and Maike remembered her. Rarelight recognized him as well and together they vanquished Monochrome forever with the power of love. They looked different, but they were the same on the inside and that's what really mattered to them, so they lived happily ever after. Did you catch all that, Pinkie? You'll have to take over the narration when Spike goes on stage. We'll fill up the plot holes as we go along, places everyone!"

"I got it!" Pinkiepie cheered, while Spike smile widely. He liked that ending, he liked it a lot.

Thus they continued performing the best they could. "When Sir Apple did not return, Princess Rarelight decided to take matters into her own hooves and set out to find her beloved Maike herself. However, she knew that it would be difficult to go out in public as a princess, thus she had the fairies change her appearance to disguise herself."

Rarity went on stage, now playing the role of Princess Rarelight. Pinkiepie was following her, though Rarity did the talking. "Oh my loyal knight!" She knelt next to Applejack.

Applejack slowly lifted her head, "who is there? Some pony I do not know?"

"It is I, your princess in disguise..." Rarity voiced dramatically.

"Princess?" Applejack pretended to have a difficult time standing. "Oh princess, it is you, I can feel it somehow. Please princess, you must flee from this place at once, for we are in the lair of Monochrome!"

"Never fear brave knight, for I am here to help you. My loyal servant, please help Sir Apple reach the castle and be healed," Rarity commanded.

"Princess, it's too dangerous for you to stay here," Applejack dramatized.

"My love for Maike shall be my shield. He risked his life to protect me and I shall do the same for him!" Rarity declared with great determination. This was so exciting, she couldn't deny that she drew inspiration from the incident with the grownup Spike for the improvised ending of the play.

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkiepie saluted. "Well, you heard the princess, she's got an evil villain to beat so let's go back to the castle and get you healed!" She ran off with Applejack and they both left the stage.

"Monochrome, you terrible witch, I know you are here!" Rarity challenged.

Rainbow Dash used some thunder for effect, but not too much. "Who are you?"

"I am Princess Rarelight!" Rarity revealed.

"Princess Rarelight? You have disguised yourself and my minions were unable to find you. I would have stopped you before you got this far if I had recognized you!" Rainbow Dash called for more weather dramatics, but thankfully, she kept it in control this time around.

"What Princess Rarelight never expected was for Monochrome to call her ferocious dragon minion against her!" Pinkie narrated from backstage.

"I have a dragon minion?" Rainbow Dash realized. "I mean... I have a dragon minion, mwahahaha! Go my ferocious dragon and devour Princess Rarelight!"

Spike ran on stage trying his best to look ferocious, for which he was aided by a dragon costume. He was standing on Applejack's back to look taller. "Roar! I shall devour you! Roar!" The audience erupted in laughter.

That wasn't exactly the reaction the spectators were supposed to have to this scene, but Rarity knew they couldn't stop now. The play was almost finished and her quiet life as a fashion designer awaited her beyond all this stress. "Oh no, a dragon! Back you beast!"

"I'm going to eat you! Roar! Ah!" spike lost his balance and fell from Applejack. The fabric of the costume pulled her to trip and she fell to the floor of the stage, with Spike accidentally tackling Rarity down with them.

"Oh no, the dragon has me!" Despite her position on the floor of the stage, Rarity tried to continue her acting. She was normally rather dramatic, so she was pretty good at this. "But what is this I feel from this beast? Can it be? This dragon is not a beast at all, for I feel deep within my heart the same emotion that I feel for my beloved Maike!"

"Get him off me," Applejack grumbled quietly. No pony liked having their head stepped on, even if it was an accident.

Rarity pulled Spike out of the costume. "When the beast sheds his scaly armor he has a heart of gold inside. It is the heart of my beloved Maike, my destined prince!"

"So you saw through my curse?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "It would have been the perfect ending to be devoured by your beloved. But it doesn't matter; I'll just end your lives myself. Mwahahaha!"

"No you won't!" Spike dramatically exclaimed. "Because nothing is more powerful than our love!" He was acting on stage with Rarity, he was acting the role of her beloved, this was so exciting!

Twilight helped out with the light effects, making Rarity and Spike glow brightly. Rainbow Dash took it as her cue to thrown in the towel. It was a pity though, because she was having lots of fun playing Monochrome. "The love, it's too strong!" Rainbow pretended to sink into one of her clouds. She snuck off stage from cloud to cloud and caused them to dissipate as if Monochrome had dissolved into mist.

"We did it!" Rarity cheered. "Now our kingdom will be safe!"

"And we'll live happily ever after!" Spike cheered. Rarity gave him a kiss which he didn't know if it was part of the play or just Rarity being relieved that it was almost over and they had managed to save the show. The point was that he liked it and it felt like much more than just an act.

Fluttershy's bird choir went into the final melody of the play as Rarity and Spike sang, with the dragon trying hard to get out of his happy daze and remember the lyrics. "A happy ending we have found, and all around there is the sound, of cheers of joy and happy shouts!"

While the play was going on, the backstage team had managed to patch up the damaged pillar and Big Macintosh could finally let it go, just on time for the big finale. The whole cast went on stage as Rarity and Spike's song ended, and started to sing the closing melody. They even managed to get Fluttershy out there. "Never let your heart go astray, for love will always find a way. And so we hope you all enjoyed the play, we wish you well with smiles on each and every day!"

The audience's stomped their hooves in a clapping sound, as cheers filled the air and the tired but happy actors and theatre staff took a bow. The pleased audience hung around for a while discussing the play. Applejack and Pinkiepie had been busy during the show, but they finally took the opportunity to sell apple treats and baked goodies. The audience was all too happy to get something to eat and both their booths were filled with customers. Princess Luna had the chance to mingle with her subjects outside of Nightmare Night, which pleased her very much. Plus it was a beautiful night and people were awake to enjoy it. They even thanked her for the starry skies and the dim light of the moon that allowed fireworks to shine in a way they couldn't possibly be seen during the day. Yes, fireworks, it was the final treat they had prepare for after the play.

It didn't look like anyone felt like going home, so Fluttershy fed her team of birds and they went for another round of songs. Even the birds were too excited to sleep anyway. Though the ponies and dragon in the play were tired, they too were enjoying the party too much to think about leaving. The festivities went on until morning and as the sun went up, sleepy but happy ponies, unicorns, pegasus and one dragon, returned home to get some much needed rest. Just as they parted way to get to their own residences, Spike looked towards Rarity and smiled. She smiled back before going on her way home along with Sweetie Bell. As Rarity left, Spike could have sworn he saw her wink at him...

End

I'm not an expert on this show, as I only watched a few episodes to accomplish this fanfic challenge and looked up wiki for a few references on specific details. None the less, I hope you enjoyed the story. I don't have anything else planned for this fic, but I love feedback. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated no matter how new or old the story may be.


	4. Star-crossed 1

Hello everyone, it's been a while since the fateful day when I wrote the previous My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic three-shot as part of a dare. Since then I checked out several fan made videos on You Tube and have been very amused. The show finally sucked me in, but admittedly it was not on its merits alone. By itself it is only cute, but with the super awesome ultra creative fandom, it goes from just cute to absolutely awesome.

I confess; I love it now and at the root of that is the fact that I love the fandom, even more so than the show itself, ironically. So I bring you an extra story, which chronologically takes place after Perseverance, but can also be read as a stand alone since its plot is self contained. For those who asked for more obvious SpikexRarity scenes, as the fluff was rather sweet but light on Perseverance, here's a tale of romance and action filled with lots of clear Sparity moments for all to enjoy.

Oh yeah, and I don't own My Little Pony.

Star-crossed

Part 1: Prologue

'How could he do this?' The unicorn mare gasped for air as she pushed her hooves to carry her faster through the maze of streets of Canterlot. 'I can't leave him.' Her heart raced, pounding against her chest even faster than the sounds of her hooves on the street. The night was dark and desolate with Princess Luna occupied with the emergency along with her sister, Princess Celestia. A cold wind blew, chilling the white unicorn mare to the bone as her echoing steps led her to the gates of the castle.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The armored unicorn guards called, not recognizing the mare in the darkness. The moon was but a barely visible line of light low in the horizon and there were no stars. Celestia had just lowered the sun when the disaster struck and Luna had no time to place the moon in its proper location in the center of the night sky.

The white unicorn backed away in fright. How could she possibly begin to explain the purpose of her intrusion on royal grounds at that hour, at that frightful moment? Not that words could reach these guards anyway. The flapping of wings from above caught her attention as a pegasus arrived on the scene. "Go!" The pegasus urged.

With a gasp caught in her throat, the white unicorn dashed past the guards. They tried to stop her of course, as her behavior was quite strange to them, but the pegasus stood in their way. The clash of metal against metal rung out in the unicorn's ears as she closed her eyes tightly and dashed deep into the castle, while the pegasus provided a distraction.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Another guard bearing the shape of an earth pony covered in steel spotted the unicorn who ran madly through the deserted castle's long elegant hallways.

"I'm sorry!" The unicorn gasped as her horn glowed menacingly bright and trapped the guard in her psychic hold. She tossed him aside down adjacent stairs and scrambled to turn a corner. Her tail swung as she turned and knocked over a decorative vase. The vase shattered when it hit the marble floor, its red roses and water spilling all over the hallway. The shattering sound of glass mixed with the cling and clang of the guard that rolled down the stairs and the even more frightening sound of approaching hooves.

The hallway was blocked. The unicorn reached a screeching halt and stared at the guards in fear. Two earth ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn, with a particularly long and sharp horn, stared her down. She stepped back, but more metal clad hooves sounded off behind her. The guards' eyes glowed red, like anger, like blood, like fire. She was trapped from both sides. Tears streamed down her face, but she had not noticed when they started or even that they were there. Her chest heaved and her hooves trembled. She gritted her teeth and glared, determined not to go down without a fight as her horn glowed.

From the window, her pegasus friend entered, looking very bruised and beaten, but still able to move, if only by flying clumsily on damaged wings. The front and back legs of the pegasus were twisted at odd angles, "go!" The pegasus rammed into the guards with the unicorn following, using her magic to add force to the ramming assault of the pegasus. A spear was thrown, the pegasus took the hit.

The unicorn couldn't look back at her fallen ally. "I'll save you!" She called out desperately. "I'll save you and him; I'll make it all better!" The mindless drones that were the castle guards throttled behind her, but her destination was in sight. Her horn glowed defiantly as she prepared to break apart the seal on the door by force, yet the seal was already broken and suddenly she felt she should have known. She shut the doors behind her and tossed tables, chairs and bookshelves at them to keep the guards at bay, if only for a few short moments.

The intruder who had broken the seal was apparently no longer there. The white unicorn knew what she needed and she prayed that it had not been taken away, but where could it be? She had no time to look for it. "Celestia! Luna! Help me!" Her horn glowed as she tried to make her plea be heard, her magic causing ripples in the air around the castle.

A cry like that of a majestic bird was heard as a phoenix entered the room via the window. "Philomena!" The unicorn gasped. "Please, royal phoenix, help me find the Tome of Time."

The majestic phoenix stretched her wings and flapped them menacingly with sparks of fire threatening to burn the unicorn.

"No, please! Trust me! I want to make it better!" The unicorn pleaded. "I have to go, I must go back in time and-"

The guards broke through the barricade at the door, tossing splintered wood, books and broken furniture aside violently. The ancient phoenix used her strong flames to keep the guards out, melting their metal armor into their bodies with sickening screeches of pain.

The unicorn cringed and tried to recall that those guards were only animated dolls and not real ponies, even if they looked so very real. "Philomena, I will warn her, I will warn the princess of this danger! I'm one of the few who wasn't captured. I want to save the others!" The unicorn pleaded with the phoenix.

'The Tome of Time...' A powerful voice echoed in the unicorn's mind so strongly it made her head hurt. 'Was burned by my flame to ensure its safety. Go and warn Celestia!'

As the phoenix glowed, something unexpected happened. The pegasus that had been aiding the unicorn half crawled and half flew in a broken state, eyes glowing red, and launched at the phoenix. The great bird's extraordinary focus was broken and in a flash the spell was sloppily completed, cracking and breaking violently.

Two points of light flew over the Ponyville of the past, one towards the Crystal Empire and the other towards the Everfree Forest where they each respectively crashed.

To be Continued


	5. Star-crossed 2

Here's something sweet for all the Sparity fans out there.

Star-crossed

Part 2: Date

"How do I-"

Before the dragon could finish his question, the unicorn sighed and replied, "for the millionth time, you look fine, Spike."

Spike frowned as he examined his reflection in the full length mirror in a corner of the library. He sighed hopelessly and ran his purple claws over his green spikes as if that would do anything to change their shape into something, as Rainbow Dash would say, 'about twenty percent cooler.' Letting out another deep breath, the young dragon grumbled. "That's the problem, Twilight. I don't want to look fine, I want to look handsome and dashing and I don't know how!" He looked at the purple unicorn with pleading eyes. "Will you reconsider about the mustache?"

"No," Twilight replied firmly. Her voice softened as she placed a hoof on Spike's shoulder, waiting for his downcast face to look at her before she continued. "Listen, Spike, as I have been saying all along, all you need to do is be yourself. That's who Rarity wants to see, Spike, not Spike pretending to be someone else. Besides, I don't see why you're so nervous. You've visited Rarity many times before without making such a fuss."

"But this is different!" Spike insisted with great emphasis. "This time I'm not just randomly going to show up to help Rarity with whatever she needs. This time she asked me to come and when I asked her if she needed help with a dress or something, she said no. She said she only wanted my company this evening!"

"That's all the more reason why you shouldn't be so nervous. She wants to see you, you already have that in your favor," Twilight tried to assure him. A knock on the door interrupted the purple unicorn, who magically opened it to find Rarity standing there.

"Rarity!" Spike dashed over to his beloved unicorn, greeting her with a smile. "Come in, come in, how are you? Looking forward to our..." Was it really a date? Was he allowed to call it as such?

"Date?" Rarity completed the sentence for him. "I was, and I was hoping you were too, but you are running rather late. I found it odd, as you're usually early when I call you over to help me work on my projects."

Spike's jaw dropped. "Late?" Oh, the disaster! "I'm late? Twilight, what time is it? Why didn't you remind me it was time to leave?" The hyper dragon ran around in circles around the purple unicorn as he frantically ran his claws over his spikes trying to 'fix them' somehow.

"Because you never told me at what time you were supposed to leave," Twilight replied. She picked up Spike with her levitation magic and set him down again, facing Rarity.

The young dragon bowed deeply. "I'm so, so sorry I made you wait!" His nose was nearly touching the floor.

Rarity laughed. "Alright, I'll forgive you, but don't you be late again, now, shall we go?" She glanced at Twilight with a smile, already guessing that Spike's reply would be an inevitable affirmative. "I'll try not to keep him out too late."

Twilight laughed lightly. "Take your time and have fun."

Rendered speechless by the excitement of going out on a date with Rarity, Spike followed her out of the library.

xoxox xox xoxox

Spike and Rarity walked back to the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity had a nice dinner set out. Spike acted out all that he could remember a gentlecolt should do, such as pulling out Rarity's chair and complementing her plentifully. Noting how nervous he was, Rarity smiled and reached across the table to place her hoof on his shaking claw. "Spiky, relax." Seeing Rarity's gentle sweet face made all of Spike's nervous worries melt away. "That's better, now let's enjoy our dinner, shall we?"

"Gladly!" Spike lifted the silver dome lid off his plate and found a beautifully arranged assortment of gems of many colors. "Wow, this looks amazing!"

"I found them and refined them just for you," Rarity's meal was, of course, something more suited for a pony to eat. "I hope you like them."

Making an effort to mind his manners, Spike sampled the delicious jewels, savoring each one. "This is delicious! Thank you so much, Rarity! Oh!" Spike suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Rarity wondered if one of the gems was pointy or something and had hurt his mouth. She had thought she cut and smoothed them all nicely.

"I got you a bouquet of flowers, but I forgot it at the library," Spike confessed.

"Ah, it's alright," Rarity smiled. "You can give it to me later. I was thinking that after dinner we could go for a walk. It's such a beautiful and calm evening and the temperature is just perfect."

The thought of a romantic stroll through Ponyville with Rarity was very appealing to Spike. "Do you think we'll see some shooting stars, like last week?"

"I don't know, but I hope so, they were quite inspiring," Rarity blushed at the memory. Spike had come over to help her on her latest project and they sat at the balcony drinking some refreshments afterwards. Luna's night was beautiful and across the clear skies, there flew two shooting stars that seemed to appear out of nowhere. One of them flew in the direction of the Everfree Forest and the other towards the Crystal Empire. Rarity had quietly commented on their beauty, only to find that the tired Spike leaning on her had fallen asleep. She snuggled closer, enjoying his warmth and noted how he had grown. He was a little bigger than her now, enough for his longer arms to fit comfortably around her in a subconscious protective embrace. She realized then how deep her affections for him went, much deeper than she thought, and decided that she had kept him waiting long enough.

"Rare?" Spike's voice woke Rarity from her thoughts. She smiled somewhat guiltily, silently confessing that she had not heard him. Spike shifted in his chair and asked his question again, as if it wasn't hard enough to ask it just once. "Does this mean you're my official marefriend?"

His emerald eyes focused on her sapphire orbs. It was true that he was a dragon, but he was also the sweetest creature she had ever met and he obviously loved her. He would do anything for her and he had made that clear in more than one occasion. This was just like the dreams Rarity had when she was a little filly, except with a dragon rather than a stallion, but still quite similar. She wanted somepony that would treat her special and shower her with love and attention. Somepony who saw only her, somepony sweet, kind and brave, somepony just like Spike. "Yes."

xoxox xox xoxox

After dinner, Spike and Rarity went for a walk around Ponyville. Night had fallen by then and everything was at peace as they talked quietly and cheerfully. They lost track of time and ended up heading to the library later than expected. "Aren't I supposed to walk you home?" Spike protested. "I'm not so young anymore..."

"I know," Rarity giggled and nuzzled him affectionately. "But a modern independent mare such as myself bends tradition every now and then. Besides, I was promised flowers."

"Oh, right, the flowers!" Spike recalled. "I don't know how I could have forgotten them again. It's just that when I see you I can't think of anything or anypony else." The way it was spoken so spontaneously as a matter of fact, made the compliment all the most honest and sweet to Rarity's ears.

"That's why you're my Spiky-wikey, you're so sweet," unable to resist, she gave him a small peck on the cheek.

Spike blushed at the unexpected, but very welcomed, kiss, and realized that he would be getting, and giving, more of those from now on. He didn't even know what he said to make Rarity think he was sweet, he wasn't even trying to come up with a compliment at the time, they were just talking.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the library and Spike produced his spare key with his flame, quietly opening the door to the dark interior. It was late and Twilight was already asleep. Peewee's soft chirp-like snores where heard near a pair of glowing eyes. The eyes moved in the darkness to light a candle, then their owner returned to his perch.

"Thanks, Owlicious," Spike nodded at the owl, then went over to the vase in the corner where he had put the flowers he meant to give Rarity. A note lay next to it in Twilight's hoof writing, which Spike curiously read. "I realized after you left that you had forgotten to give Rarity the flowers you got for her. I suggest making a checklist next time you're getting ready to go on a date."

"That's our Twilight," Rarity laughed.

"PS," Spike continued, "I'll be going to Sweet Apple Acres for breakfast tomorrow. Mac always starts his work with the rising of the sun, so I will be leaving before then. You can join us if you feel like getting up early." Spike turned the paper over and looked around for a quill, then wrote in his reply. "No thanks, I think I'll sleep in, have fun on your date." He underlined the word date to give the note a teasing tone. Rarity giggled as he watched over his shoulder. Spike took the red roses and gave them to her. "For you, my lady."

"Why thank you, kind sir." The elegant unicorn smelled the sweet scent of the roses, savoring the moment. "I had fun tonight, but it is rather late so I should be getting home."

"It's my turn to walk you next time," Spike offered.

Rarity smiled as they headed for the library door, "fair enough," she agreed.

Spike hesitated and opened his mouth to speak. Rarity looked at him and waited for what he needed to say, but then he closed his mouth again without actually saying anything. He had something to ask, but felt silly asking it. It's not like Rarity asked for permission to kiss him, though it was pretty obvious that she had all the permission in the world.

Seeing that Spike remained silent, Rarity spoke her goodnight and turned to leave. She considered giving him a kiss goodnight and not just on the cheek, but decided against it. She would let Spike be the one to take that step when he was ready.

"Um..." Spike made a soft mutter of a sound before closing his eyes and leaning over to give Rarity a kiss on the cheek. At that moment, she heard him and turned to look at him, causing his mouth to find her lips instead of her face. Spike noticed that the feeling on his lips was of another mouth, rather than a cheek and shyly parted from Rarity for a mere inch. Yet as if pulled towards her by an inexplicable magnetism, he kissed her again, this time knowing exactly where he was aiming.

After getting over her surprise, Rarity leaned into Spike and savored their kiss, wrapping her frontlegs over his shoulders as his arms held her by the waist, standing on her hindlegs, leaning against his warmth.

The loud crash of breaking glass made them jump in a startle, automatically holding each other closer. A wave of shyness suddenly overtook them, combined with the bliss of their first intimate kiss. "Sounds like someone dropped something..." Rarity breathe.

"Yeah, they did..." Spike agreed, wishing that whoever broke whatever that was, had been more careful. The night was very quiet and practically everypony was asleep at that hour, thus every tiny sound echoed as if it was a loud bang.

"See you later..." Rarity whispered.

With a goofy smile still plastered on his face, Spike nodded, "yeah, later."

A bit embarrassed, Rarity picked up the flowers that had fallen out of her psychic hold when Spike took her by surprise, then with joy washing away any trace of a doubt, she galloped home with a cheerful pace.

Spike stood at the doorway smiling happily, "I'm in love," he sighed.

Owlicious flew over and perched himself on the dragon's head, "who."

"Me," Spike automatically replied.

"Who," Owlicious repeated.

"With Rarity..." spike sighed happily.

"Who," the owl responded again with the same sound.

Spike was about to reply again, but stopped. "Very funny," he closed the door and started up the stairs. "I don't think I'll be able to get any sleep tonight." He was too happy to stop his heart from racing long enough to fall asleep. "Want to hang out at Twilight's balcony for a while, Owlicious? Maybe the night breeze will make me sleepy."

"Who."

"I'll take that as a yes."

To be Continued

I hoped you enjoyed this peaceful chapter, because the next one will be intense!


	6. Star-crossed 3

Star-crossed

Part 3: Enemy

Two hours prior, at the Everfree Forest... 'Rebooting all systems. Unable to complete system repairs. Exceeded allowed recovery time. Mission must be reinitiated. Target data has been corrupted. Restoring target files. Restoration is not possible. Recovering data packets. Recreating target data. Complete recreation is not possible. Partially recreating target data. The target is... white... unicorn... female...'

xoxox xox xoxox

Present time, at Ponyville... The sound of breaking glass echoed through the quiet streets of Ponyville. Rarity was beginning to find it unnerving as she made her way back to the Carousel Boutique. One or two broken glass items were understandable, but not this many. Her uneasiness grew when a scream echoed through the night, followed by more breaking glass and a shriek of, "thief! Burglar! Help, police!"

Rarity gasped in disbelief, there was somepony breaking into people's houses in the calm Ponyville? She didn't want to be out on the streets anymore and, as she was more than halfway there, she ran full speed to her house with intentions of locking herself in. With the Carousel Boutique in sight and seemingly unharmed, Rarity's nerves began to calm slightly, though she was still very much concerned. She hoped the burglar didn't assault the library.

Suddenly, an unknown pegasus landed in front of her path. Rarity gasped in horror noting that this was no ordinary pegasus. The way he was damaged with limbs that twisted and bent at odd angles reminded her of a zombie horror film, but there was no blood or rotting flesh. The creature before her was made of metal with what appeared to be a pony's skin covering him, though Rarity was too startled to think it might just be a synthetic imitation. The frightened unicorn stepped back as she struggled to find her voice and call for help.

"Possible target found. Initiating termination sequence." The pegasus' red eyes glowed as he spoke in a mechanical voice.

"Help!" Rarity took off in a speedy dash in the opposite direction. "Help, police!"

"Over there!" An earth pony in a police uniform called out as he saw Rarity being chased by a very suspicious pegasus. "Stop in the name of Celestia!" The police pony blocked the pegasus' path.

"All obstacles must be eliminated," the pegasus' monotone rung out eerily. His eyes glowed red as he rammed into the officer with such a force that threw him several feet across the street with a fractured leg and a few broken ribs.

"Smith!" Another police pony who had just arrived on the scene called out to his injured comrade.

"What's going on? What is that?" Two more officers ran towards the scene. They stood at the ready to fight off the strange pegasus, but were swiftly tossed aside like rag dolls by his frightening superior strength.

"Obstacles neutralized. Reengaging pursuit of target," the pegasus droned in a cold monotone.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the library, Spike was set on edge when he heard more sounds of broken glass, though he wasn't sure what it could be. He didn't realize they were windows being broken in a frantic search for an uncertain target. Then a scream echoed in the stillness of the night. There was a thief out there? A criminal in Ponyville? "Rarity!" Spike dashed down the stairs of the library in worry.

A sleepy Twilight stumbled out of bed asking groggily, "what's going on? What was that noise?"

Spike had no time to explain and simply dashed out of the building. Owlicious flew circles around Twilight shouting, "who! Who!" In alarm.

Twilight rushed down the stairs, running into the frightened Peewee. More screams echoed in the stillness of the night and it became obvious that something was going on, something bad. She had to follow Spike, but as she reached the front of the library, the screams stopped, replaced by the echo of running hooves and she wasn't sure which way Spike had gone.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Help!" Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs. Ponyville was a calm town, so there wasn't much of a necessity for too many police officers to be around. She was pretty sure the strange pegasus had already incapacitated the whole police force.

"Rarity!" Spike shouted her name from the next street, having heard her echoing voice.

"Spike, run!" She didn't want him to be in danger. "Run away, ru-" The flow of air was cut from her lungs as a pair of strong metal hooves grasped her throat. Her horn glowed dimly, but the lack of oxygen in her thirsty lungs, tired from all the running, was not allowing her magic to flow.

"Rarity!" Spike spotted the scene that angered and worried him like nothing had before. He rushed towards the strange pegasus and tackled him to the ground, causing him to release Rarity in the process. With a great fury in his eyes, Spike clawed and bit at the pegasus that he thought was wearing terribly thick metal armor.

The pegasus fought back, tossing Spike off him. "Initiating one on one combat mode," its monotone announced.

"Spike, that thing is no pony; it's some kind of enchanted metal doll!" Rarity gasped out as soon as she could get her voice to function beyond the pain on her bruised neck and constrained throat.

"Then I don't need to hold back!" Spike growled menacingly. He would tare that terrible thing to pieces. The dragon and the metal pegasus launched at each other, kicking and clawing madly.

Several ponies began to arrive on the scene, driven out of their houses by an irresistible curiosity. They stopped several feet away from the fight, too frightened to get any closer.

Spike let out a lethal roar and a large flame that effulged the pegasus completely. Yet all it did was incinerate its outer coat and caused the metal of his body to glow a bright hot red. The pegasus continued kicking, now with the added heat of Spike's own flames.

"Spiky!" Rarity's horn glowed brightly as she tried to entrap the pegasus in her psychic hold.

"Counteracting magic attack." The pegasus announced with the same lifeless nonchalance it always spoke with.

Then suddenly, Rarity was assaulted by electricity, as if she had been hit by lightning. Spike reached out to her, but she was tossed away several feet from him by the force of the impact. The pegasus kicked Spike again during his moment of distraction and left him breathless. Driven by a protective fury, the dragon let out an earsplitting roar and clawed at the Pegasus madly. His strong jaws reached the metal enemy's neck and, with a force that could shatter gems, he bit and chewed until the head was barely hanging by several cables and circuitry. The motionless metal doll fell to the street, it's once red eyes now dark.

Spike rushed to Rarity's side as horrified gasps escaped the gathered crowd several feet away. Twilight arrived on the scene, having followed the noises to pinpoint their location. Peewee and Owlicious were on her back, clinging to her with their disturbed survival instincts on the edge. Something unnatural had invaded the quiet Ponyville. "Everypony, please go home and stay indoors!" Twilight urged.

The ponies dispersed rather swiftly as the mayor finally managed to make her way through the crowds. Just when the ponies had left, the pegasus' eyes suddenly lit up again. "Major damage, major damage." His voice unstably came out with a eerie surreal tone. "Retreating," The pegasus took to the skies with its head hanging off its body at an impossible angle and got away.

Spike cradled Rarity's unconscious body, with worried tears in his eyes. "Twilight Sparkle," the mayor gasped out with difficulty. "What is all this?"

"I don't know," Twilight truthfully replied. "But we will find out." She would have to contact Celestia and round up the elements of harmony right away. But first, there was the matter of Rarity. "C'mon, Spike, pull yourself together, we need to get Rarity to the hospital!"

To be Continued


	7. Star-crossed 4

Star-crossed

Part 4: Problem

When the morning came, the day promised to be long and perilous. Twilight had sent a letter to Princess Celestia as soon as Spike composed himself enough to mail it through his flame. Rarity was resting in the hospital, but fortunately, her condition was stable and she could leave that afternoon after some preventive examinations were done. Her neck presented dark bruises that her light coat did little to hide, along with several other bruises and scratches from when she was tossed back. Her mane was a frizzy mess of static that made her fret self-consciously, but otherwise she only sustained lesser burns that could be compared to a day at the beach without sun block. However, the shock of electricity was very painful and her every muscle still ached, as the attack was designed to cause paralyzing pain, rather than permanent damage.

Spike stayed by Rarity's side the whole time. Her parents and sister had gone to see her as well as her friends. Twilight fussed nervously, impatiently waiting for Celestia's reply on this troubling matter. Fluttershy cried, Pinkiepie tried to cheer the atmosphere with cake and Rainbow Dash offered to hunt down and beat up the strange metal pegasus that was still at large. Applejack had rushed over with Macintosh and Apple Bloom insisting on following her. Scootaloo arrived as well and they all made Rarity's hospital room very crowded.

Nurse Redheart came in to get Rarity, with several ponies wanting to go along with her. After some insistent assurance from Rarity, most of her visitors finally agreed to just let her get the tests over with and rest. With some difficulty, she managed to convince her parents to go home, as she was now guarded by the other elements of harmony and a strong dragon, and thus was as safe as she could be. All she needed was to rest.

After Rarity's parents went home, Macintosh exchanged a few quiet glances and even fewer, but well meant, quiet words of reassurance with Twilight and returned to Sweet Apple Acres along with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell. They had offered to help out around the orchid, since obviously Applejack would have other matters on her hooves for the time being.

After Rarity's tests were done, she was allowed to go home to where she was accompanied by the holders of the elements of harmony and Spike. Though they intended to let her rest, she refused. "There is a monster out there," there was a slight tremble to her voice as she insisted. "I'm alright, just a little tired and sore, but it's nothing serious. This is something that must be addressed right away." The thought of her Spiky-wikey, her friends and her home in danger was something Rarity couldn't bear.

Before anyone could argue with Rarity, Spike felt an incoming message. He manifested the rolled up parchment enclosed with the royal seal, as it came directly from Princess Celestia. He unrolled the letter swiftly as all eyes stared at him, waiting to hear what the princess had to say about Twilight's report concerning that night's incident. "To my faithful student, Luna and I will shortly be arriving at Ponyville, please gather your friends who wield the elements of harmony and meet us at the town hall." Celestia's usual royal signature was imprinted on the bottom of the paper below the startling message. "That's... that's all it says..." Spike voiced with a million thoughts running through his mind. If Celestia needed to speak to the elements of harmony in person with enough urgency to make the trip to Ponyville herself, rather than waiting for them to go to Canterlot, this had to be big. Furthermore, both princesses were coming.

"Let's go," Twilight quietly prompted them out of their silent shock, leading the parade out of the Carousel Boutique and towards the town hall.

As they went, ponies dashed out of the way in the streets, whispering things about a 'monster' or 'beast' and some even dared to quietly voice the word of 'murder.' Further stressed by the town's unease, the six ponies and dragon quickened their pace until they were running towards the town hall.

Celestia's royal guards stood at the doorway to the building as the streets around it became progressively more deserted. Twilight and the others exchanged confused looks before the purple unicorn stepped inside the town hall. The guards were expecting them and with nothing but weary looks, they made no motion to prevent their entry.

At the reception of town hall, a white unicorn mare sat looking rather sad and uncomfortable. Glancing at her in passing, Rarity wondered if the mare she had never seen before was somehow another victim of last night's attacks. Pinkiepie paused and gave the unknown mare another look. She felt compelled to meet, befriend and cheer up this stranger. The group headed to the mayor's office where Celestia and Luna were already discussing something with the mayor. Applejack signaled for Pinkiepie to catch up to the group, as they didn't want to keep the princesses waiting any longer, and the pink pony reluctantly followed.

"I'm so sorry we're late!" Twilight apologized gravely.

"It is alright, what matters is that you are here. We have very important matters to discuss," Celestia confessed. There was no time for greetings and pleasantries as she began to explain what little she knew about what was going on. "Eight days ago two shooting stars mysteriously fell from the sky. Those were not ordinary stars. One of them landed in the Crystal Empire and was discovered to be a unicorn mare engulfed in a protective shield of light. Because of that, she was not physically harmed by the crash, but she had some injuries, apparently from shortly before the crash. All that I know from the traces of magic left around her, is that she was transported there by a forbidden time traveling spell the record of which I had destroyed to prevent it from falling into the wrong hooves. This is not a temporary spell like the one found in the library; this is a spell that can send a pony back or forward indefinitely."

"Unfortunately, something went wrong with the spell and it was executed too violently, too rushed," Celestia continued. "As a result, our visitor's memories were locked away. I have never met this mare and we could not find any record of who she is, hinting that she is either not registered in Equestrian records for some reason, or is from a time so far away that she does not yet exist here. All of this cannot be a mere coincidence, I fear that she was sent here to warn us of something, but she cannot recall what it is. Furthermore, she has succumbed to a terrible sadness that could weaken her until it ends her life if she does not overcome it. That is why we brought her here. As we do not know her name, we call her Mystery. Please show her the joy of friendship and give her the strength she needs to unlock her hidden memories."

Twilight exchanged determined looks and nods with the other elements of harmony. "We will."

"You betcha!" Pinkiepie squeaked.

"As for the other shooting star," Celestia voiced. "It fell at the Everfree Forest, but we were not able to find it. We suspect that the strange enchanted metal pegasus you reported could have been it. If that is so, his mission might be to eliminate Mystery to prevent her from warning us. Just as the time travel spell locked away her memories, it might have damaged the spell that animated him, making his target unclear, hence why he attacked Rarity even though the only thing she has in common with Mystery is that they're both white unicorn mares."

"Now that I think about it," Rarity recalled. "That terrible creature did say something about a possible target and a termination sequence," she shuddered at the memory.

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. "If that is the case, then we can assume that all mares that have slight similarities with Mystery could become targets."

"Even with an age difference?" Rarity gasped. Like herself, Sweetie Belle and several other members of her family were white unicorns.

"It is possible," Celestia confirmed. "Research is being conducted around the clock, but I'm afraid there is little to be found. I fear there are simply no records of what this is. The only clue we have may lie in Mystery's memories. I suspect that our unknown enemy will return to hunt her down. Because of that," Celestia levitated a small chest in front of her, opening it and causing the elements of harmony to float towards the ponies that wielded them. "I want you all to keep these with you at all times and stay together. I do not know what kind of disaster may loom, but it must be terrible if such a forbidden spell has been used in an attempt to prevent it."

A solemn silence overtook the mayor office, until finally, Celestia spoke up again. "As for the other matter I was discussing with the mayor, there has been an unfortunate misunderstanding. Several ponies witnessed last night's fight from a somewhat distant perspective and it was dark, thus they misunderstood. Unfortunately, they were led to believe that Spike had killed a pegasus and injured Rarity."

Every pony's jaws dropped at the ridiculous accusation. "How could they even think that?" Spike stuttered in disbelief. "I wasn't even going all out until I knew that pegasus wasn't actually alive. That's why I ripped its head off; it was just an evil doll! And I would never hurt Rarity; I was trying to protect her when that thing electrocuted her!"

"We know, Spike, we know," Twilight assured, trying to calm him down. She rubbed his shoulder with her hoof in a soothing, almost motherly, motion.

Rarity looked like she really needed her fainting couch. She felt her stomach turn at the thought of such vile accusations that couldn't be further from the truth and had to steady herself leaning against Spike. "This will blow over," she gasped out, trying to reassure both Spike and herself. Her shock evolved into indignation, "they'll realize how ridiculous such untrue accusations are and forget about all that nonsense."

To be Continued

Yes, there is a plot other than Sparity going on here. However, because Spike and Rarity have been dragged into the middle of it, they will still be the main characters of this story.


	8. Star-crossed 5

The first half of this part has some development for the sub-plot and the second half has the prescribed dose of Sparity, enjoy. :)

Star-crossed

Part 5: Mystery

"Happy new friends party to you!" Pinkiepie's voice hit a high note as she reached the end of her song. "Are you happy? Are you happy? Did you get your memories back?"

Mystery shrunk back like Fluttershy. She wasn't as meek as Fluttershy, but Pinkiepie was able to overload just about any pony. The enigmatic white unicorn had a blue mane in a very similar style as Twilight, except it was all one color, a deep royal blue. Her eyes were deep near-black brown that made the irises and the pupils blend in visually. Her coat was ivory just as Rarity's was.

Her cutie mark held a seven pointed blue star with a zig-zagging light blue line inside it. Around it there were what could have been little sparks, some lines and others tiny circles. Pinkiepie thought they resembled miniature mozzarella sticks and cookies. Twilight thought they were ones and zeroes, thus encouraged Mystery to take a math test, albeit the results disappointed the purple unicorn, as Mystery's mathematical skills were barely average at best, and certainly no where near Twilight's own.

Mystery seemed content enough listening to the tales Twilight shared, to try to help her get to know the group and thus establish a friendship with them, that would hopefully help her recover. That make Twilight think she might have an interest in stories, thus books, but she seemed to lack the patience for them. "Are you sure you don't know of a spell to make the books talk? For some reason, I was sure these things could talk. Sorry, I just don't like reading; I wouldn't mind listening to more stories though."

The reaction of the newcomer only made Twilight more confused. How could she have such a liking for stories and such bored disdain for books? Perhaps where she was from she had someone who read to her, or the people there really did know a spell to make books talk. It was possible since she came from the future. It was too bad she couldn't remember it; Twilight would have loved to hear about the latest developments and discoveries of society.

Twilight's failed cutie mark deciphering experiments prompted Pinkiepie to test her theory and drag the uneasy amnesiac unicorn to Sugar Cube Corner. Mystery certainly loved to eat sweets and happily partook in that, but her baking and cooking skills were well below average. By then Twilight have come up with another theory concerning Mystery's cutie mark, as the group hoped to help the unicorn find herself by remembering her talent. As the cutie mark vaguely resembled Twilight's own, a magic test was in order. Mystery proved to be skilled in magic, but not significantly more so than a fairly talented or well practiced unicorn. She was good, but not quite at the level of Twilight or even Trixie, thus it was concluded that magic was not her talent after all.

Rarity thought that maybe the lines and circles were rectangular and circular gems with the rest of the cutie mark representing the glitter of jewelry. Mystery did enjoy the creation of jewelry under Rarity's guidance. She certainly wasn't as bad as Twilight with such labors, as the nest incident Rarity once dreadfully witnessed during winter wrap some time ago proved. Yet Mystery was still at an average level of skill.

Bucking apples only seemed to tire out Mystery after just one buck and cause her to take refuge inside the Apple home, expressing her dislike for the bright sunlight, the trees and the outdoors. Though Applejack wasn't exactly happy with the discovery, at least they knew what Mystery wasn't good at. Racing was definitely not her forte either, as Rainbow Dash eloquently concluded by claiming that she had seen faster snails. Although she might have been exaggerating, after Applejacks and Rainbow Dash's reports, it was safe to rule out sports as a possible talent. Not that Twilight understood why such testing was done in the first place if Mystery's cutie mark didn't look like anything sporty anyway.

The day was long, especially for Mystery, who seemed more so interested in fleeing Ponyville than recovering her memories. It all culminated with a party arranged by Pinkiepie, who sang and cheered while Fluttershy's shy voice was lost in all the noise. "Girls... I think she needs some room to breathe," the quiet yellow pegasus suggested.

Though no one actually heard Fluttershy, Rarity did notice that their new friend was looking rather overloaded. "Everypony, give her some room to breathe!"

As soon as she saw an escape route, Mystery made a bee line for the library door, the place were the party was held and where she was supposed to be staying. Yet at the time, she just wanted to get away. "Thanks for the party and everything," she spoke in a rushed voice. "I really should get going now, goodbye!" Then she dashed out the door.

"But you're supposed to be staying here," Twilight reminded a little too late.

"I'll go find her," Rarity offered. Her attempt to discover Mystery's talent had been the most tolerable for the amnesiac unicorn.

"Not alone!" Spike rushed after Rarity. "In fact, you shouldn't go out there at all. That metal pegasus is still looking for white unicorn mares to hunt down."

"All the more reason why we should retrieve poor Mystery. If she gets attacked, that creature would surely ruin the hair clip I made for her, and it does look lovely on her mane, which must remain tidy for the clip to fit it," Rarity argued. "Besides, the mayor did advise you to stay indoors as much as possible until that ridiculous business with your false accusation blows over."

"Which is why neither of you should go," Twilight stepped forward.

"Um... girls..." Fluttershy tried to speak, but her voice was lost to all the others.

"Leave finding her to me," Applejack volunteered.

"You know, I could just fly out and drag her over here myself." Rainbow offered. "If she really has some important information to tell us she should hurry up and remember and she won't be able to do that if she doesn't try harder."

"Slow down there, sugar cube, this has to be hard on her. Not knowing who she is, where she came from, who her friends are or if she even had friends," Applejack argued.

"What? You mean maybe she has no friends to remember?" Pinkiepie gasped in disbelief. "That would be so sad!

"Um... girls..." After a long while of continuously trying to be heard, Fluttershy was finally noticed. "Mystery isn't gone," the shy pegasus silently pointed out. "She's just outside, right in front of the library."

A chorus of "oh..." invaded the atmosphere when they realized that the holder of the unknown and likely vital clue to prevent an enigmatic disaster was still near by and in one peace.

Spike poked his head out of the library door and in as much of a none pressuring way as he could muster, he invited. "Mystery, do you want to come back inside?"

"Every pony here is crazy," Mystery grumbled under her breath.

"That's funny, Twilight said the same thing when we first came to Ponyville," Spike recalled.

"I want to go back to Canterlot," Mystery grimaced. "Actually, I'd rather go home, but I don't know where that is, so Canterlot is the next best thing."

"Canterlot, that's it!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed. "You're not used to the outdoors or physical labor, you like fancy sweets and shiny jewelry. Why didn't I realize this before? Even if your home is in the far future, its past incarnation must be here. You're a city pony and your home might just be Canterlot!"

"I suppose..." Mystery agreed unsure. "I rested for a while after my arrival at the Crystal Empire, Princess Candace and Prince Shining Armor were very kind to me. He was the one who found me and took me to the castle infirmary actually and Cadance nursed me back to health. Then I was sent to Canterlot, but I spent most of my time in the castle and didn't see the city. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna tried to help me recover my memories, Luna especially since I liked to stay up late at night and sleep in during the day. But it didn't work out, then I came here."

"Even if it is in a past form, maybe seeing Canterlot will jolt your memories," Twilight theorized. "Besides, I've heard the night life is more active there lately since the return of Luna and you do sound kind of nocturnal. No wonder you've been yawning all day. Tomorrow we'll-" Fluttershy made a barely audible whimper, which Twilight miraculously caught. "Oh that's right, you were supposed to be going to Fluttershy's place to see if your talent was something similar to hers. I don't think it's likely-" Another look at Fluttershy's shy and disappointed face because everyone else got to share their talents with Mystery and she didn't, made Twilight add, "but you can still go. We'll just take the evening train to Canterlot."

After the plans for the next day were established, everyone decided to call it a night. Pinkiepie was reluctantly coaxed into ending the party early and going home, allowing Twilight and Mystery to settle in for some sleep. Spike walked Rarity home and offered to stay at the Carousel Boutique guarding her.

xoxox xox xoxox

The Carousel Boutique was fortunately intact and the neighborhood as a whole seemed to be at relative peace, which meant the metal pegasus had not resumed his hunt. He was pretty damaged and even if he was able to repair himself somehow, it was only logical to think that it would require time. Rarity and Spike went inside the Carousel Boutique yawning tiredly, with Rarity using her horn to light the way, as the sun had already set when they arrived. "All this stress is making me tired. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow in Canterlot, but it'll be good, a change of scene is nice now and then, especially if the other scene is Canterlot. Plus since we'll just be showing Mystery the sights and not really going on a specific business appointment, I'm sure the girls won't mind if we take some time to ourselves."

"Then we can do on another date when we get to Canterlot?" Spike eagerly inquired.

"Of course," Rarity smiled, then another yawn escaped her. "We'd best turn in for the night. Let me go get things ready for you."

"That's not necessary," Spike insisted in what he thought was his most dashing tone. "I don't need a place to sleep; I'm going to stay awake by your bed side, guarding you all night long."

"But Spiky, you'll be exhausted," Rarity logically pointed out. "Then we won't be able to go on our Canterlot date." It was hardly the time for a date really, but Rarity was so stressed after her experience that she felt that if she didn't clear her mind a little, she wouldn't be able to function. Besides, they were just grasping at straw with trying to find ways to cure Mystery's amnesia anyway. Maybe if Rarity cleared her head, she could come up with an idea.

"I'll sleep on the train, every pony will be there, so you'll be safe," Spike reason.

Rarity sighed as Spike followed her to her room with a firm determination. "Are you sure you want to stay up all night watching me?" Deep down, the fashionista knew that she wouldn't be able to convince the dragon to do otherwise.

"Absolutely!" Spike assured.

"Alright, if you say so," Rarity got ready to turn in for the night and lay down on her large bed, which could easily fit three or four ponies with room to spare. She took off her element of harmony necklace and levitated it to the nightstand, gently rubbing her bruised neck with her hooves.

Spike frowned at the marks of the attempted murder that were still visible on Rarity's neck, then the room turned dark as Rarity allowed the light of her horn to fade. Soft hooves steps sounded off outside as the police ponies sent from Canterlot to reinforce public safety made their rounds on the deserted streets of Ponyville. It was still rather early for any pony except the particularly tired to be asleep, but no one felt safe enough to go out at night for the time being after what happened.

Albeit it was dark, Rarity could still feel Spike's eyes on her. After a while, his eyelids felt very heavy and he closed his eyes, falling asleep. Rarity opened her eyes, having purposely pretended to sleep, secretly staying awake waiting for Spike to fall asleep. She levitated the covers off, then focusing her magic, levitated Spike very gently on to the bed without waking him. She covered them both with the soft blankets and finally fell asleep with a soft whisper of, "good night, Spiky-wikey."

xoxox xox xoxox

Rarity woke up early the next morning thanks to Opalescence jumping on her back. The unicorn had left food and water out for the cat, but apparently it had since been consumed and Opal wanted her breakfast. Still tired, Rarity groaned softly as she lifted her head a little. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up..." She laid her head back down, mumbling, "in a few minutes..." Her bed felt too warm and comfy to get out of so soon.

The texture was peculiar though, firm but smooth and very warm. Furthermore the mattress moved with a steady rhythm as if it were breathing and it had a heartbeat. Rarity was about to allow the sensations to lull her to sleep when a shriek of impatience from Opalescense forced her to grasp the living world more firmly. Her bed should not be acting in such a way, no inanimate object should.

A little more awake by then, Rarity blinked away the remaining slumber from her eyes and realized that she was sleeping on top of Spike, who was sprawled out to take up most of the room on her bed, snoring softly. "Spiky?" She blinked in perplexity before her memory reconnected with her brain and she recalled how he got there in the first place.

Carefully so as to not wake him, Rarity began to get up. Spike mumbled something in his sleep and turned on his side, taking Rarity with him and trapping her in a subconscious protective embrace that made her blush. Opal had enough of waiting and attacked Spike full force, but it took a moment for her claws to dig deep enough on his dragon scales. That, combined with her catty shrieks, finally woke the dragon.

Spike came to his senses to a stinging pain on his back, the unpleasant sound of a screeching cat and the heavenly feeling of Rarity in his embrace. The elegant unicorn was scolding the aforementioned cat as best she could. "No, Opal, stop it! Bad girl!"

Wondering if he was still dreaming, Spike picked up the cat by the fur of her back, leaving her to swipe her claws at empty air, hissing continuously. With the motion of getting up, his other arm still around Rarity, he pulled the unicorn onto his lap. "Um... is this a dream?"

Rarity bid Spike good morning by cuddling closer to him. "It's not a dream, you spent the night over to guard me, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Realization suddenly hit Spike, "I fell asleep, sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad you got some rest, we both needed it. As much as I would rather just stay here and cuddle, I have to get up, feed Opalescence and pack for the Canterlot trip, all before this evening!" Rarity exclaimed, her voice going up in pitch with each word as she realized just how much she had to do in so little time.

"There's plenty of time for that." Spike tried to assure her, while at the same time secretly hoping that she would agree and cuddle longer.

"Oh no! There's hardly any time," Rarity gasped. "This is Canterlot we're talking about, Canterlot! I must choose my attire carefully. We might be invited to the castle while we're there and I must wear something grand in front of the princesses to make up for my lack of preparation the last time I saw them. Besides, what if Fancy Pants or another of my Canterlot friends invites me over? Oh no, I just recalled, I promised Fancy's wife, Fleur, that I would bring her a new hat on my next visit and I haven't even started making it! Plus with the possibility of disaster right around the corner, I must make sure to pack not only for the glamour of Canterlot, but also for the possibility of a dangerous mission. Not to mention that I need to have my element of harmony necklace on at all times as Princess Celestia said, thus all my outfits must properly match it!" Now stressed, Rarity jumped off Spike's lap and began to pace, not sure of where to get started.

By then Opalescence had stopped fussing, as she realized it was useless, and Spike finally set her down. "Why don't I start by taking care of Opalescence and making you breakfast, then you can focus on fashion and not worry about anything else."

"Oh thank you, my Spiky-wikey, you're always so helpful!" After her exclamation of gratitude, Rarity gave Spike a quick kiss on the lips and ran off to start simultaneously crafting Fleur De Lis' hat and choosing her attire for the trip. Spike was left with a content expression engraved on his features that not even Opalescence's clawing at his tail could erase.

To Be Continued


	9. Star-crossed 6

Star-crossed

Part 6: Enchantment?

When the afternoon rolled around, Rarity had finished packing for Canterlot and preparing the hat she had promised Fleur De Lis with time to spare. Since she was ready, she decided to take a walk around Ponyville with Spike. A few ponies were still a little doubtful about their dragon citizen, despite the assurances from the mayor, and their stares were making Rarity's blood boil as she felt Spike tense up next to her. She took a sharp turn and quickened her pace, with Spike following her without questions, until he realized that they were heading in the vague direction of Fluttershy's cottage. "Are we going to Fluttershy's?" Spike finally asked, not standing the silence any longer.

"More like her yard," Rarity replied. "I really wanted to take a nice walk with you and no one is going to take that away from me," she stated with determination. "We can take a walk through the gardens Fluttershy has been tending to near her cottage. I'm pretty sure this is a shortcut." Rarity turned towards a path between bushes. She wasn't bothered by the surrounding flora, as it was well groomed and not at all wild. Finally starting to relax, Rarity commented, "Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo have been coming over to help Fluttershy with her garden."

"Trying to get their cutie marks in gardening?" Spike inquired as he lazily draped his arm over Rarity's shoulders.

She smiled and leaned into his warmth, "they never give up."

The couple continued their pleasant little walk until they were interrupted by a familiar white rabbit bolting past them full speed. The rabbit was followed by a unicorn, who didn't seem particularly pleased to set hoof outdoors, even if it wasn't exactly in the wild. "Come back here!" Mystery stopped, realizing she had lost track of Angel. Spotting Rarity and Spike, she hastily inquired. "Have you seen a misbehaving white bunny around here? Fluttershy had to take care of an emergency and asked me to watch him. I thought he was cute, but he's such a total brat! Dealing with animals is definitely not my talent."

"An emergency?" Rarity asked with worry.

"Oh no," Mystery shook her head in assurance. "It's not a real emergency, even though Fluttershy was calling it one. The eggs her chicken laid are hatching and she rushed off to make sure the chicks are okay."

"Ah, I see, that does sound like Fluttershy," Rarity nodded. "Well, we did see Angel Bunny rush by-" Rarity's reply was interrupted by the same missing rabbit rushing back towards the unicorns and dragon, looking startled and somewhat shocked.

Angel hopped up and down, pointing at the direction from where he came, as if he had seen something particularly unusual. Mystery responded by picking him up in her psychic hold and trapping him firmly with her glowing horn's magic. "Got you! Maybe Fluttershy has a kennel or something I can put you in until she comes back." She glared at the rabbit, though he stare was not quite as potent as Fluttershy's. Then she addressed Spike and Rarity before leaving. "See you later, sorry to have interrupted your romantic moment like that."

Rarity giggled and Spike blushed, "we weren't doing anything..." he shifted shyly.

"Well I'm leaving, so now you can," Mystery smiled teasingly before trotting off with the protesting Angel in her grasp.

"It looks like Mystery is starting to warm up to us if she can tease us," Rarity laughed.

"I guess so," Spike agreed with a mischievous smile, "she has a good point though. I mean we're here, all alone, in a romantic garden..."

Rarity giggled and batted her eyelashes, "what ever did you have in mind?"

"Possible target located," a dreadful monotone broke the sweet moment. The metal pegasus had found Rarity again.

Spike immediately pushed Rarity behind him and assumed a defensive stance. "That thing..." Rarity felt her neck ache just thinking about when the creature almost strangled her to death. "That thing was hiding so close to Fluttershy?" Granted that her friend was not a white unicorn, but if the spell or whatever was powering that killer metal doll malfunctioned enough so that it attacked all white unicorns instead of just its target, then who was to say it wouldn't further go crazy and attack Fluttershy? Besides, it had sent several police ponies to the hospital after labeling them as obstacles. "Run!" Rarity pulled Spike to follow her. "We have to gather the girls, the elements of harmony!"

Spike ran along with Rarity, allowing her to remain a few feet ahead so that the pegasus had to go through him in order to get to her. The terrible enemy took to the skies and flew over Spike, swooping down towards Rarity, who dived out of the way at the last second. Spike caught up to her, realizing that his plan to serve as a wall between Rarity and danger was not working. He helped her to her hooves only on time to push her out of the way when the metal pegasus swooped down again. The enemy rammed into Spike, who was thrown several feet back. "Ugh, I was still sore from when Opalescence used me as a scratching post."

"All obstacles must be eliminated." The pegasus announced.

"Spiky!" Rarity called out, fearing for his safety.

Spike did not stand down. "That's right, you chunk of metal, if you want Rarity, you'll have to get through me."

Just as Spike was making his brave declarations, Mystery returned again. "Oh... This isn't the right way at all. There are no signs or anything and I'm so lost..." She looked up from her voiced musings and dropped Angel in shock as she saw what was before her. The rabbit scurried away full speed, as unlike Mystery, he did know the way back to the cottage.

"Second possible target identified." The pegasus announced, setting his sights on Mystery.

Surprisingly, Mystery wasn't frightened, but curious. "I feel like I've seen him before..."

"Maybe because that's the monster that tried to kill you before?" Rarity shrieked.

"Get out of here you two, I'll take care of that thing, I beat it once and I can do it again!" Spike jumped towards the pegasus, who simply flew higher and out of reach.

"Commencing counter attack." A bolt of electricity came from the pegasus, crashing against Spike, leaving him in a pained daze.

"Spiky!" Before the second bolt could hit, Rarity used her magic to intercept it and redirect its path, sending it to crash against a near by tree.

As if held by a trance of the memories that wanted to resurface, Mystery fearlessly approached the metal foe. She had been told about him and knew that he was likely there to kill her, but she held no memories of ever meeting him before this time, albeit she knew she must have. "What... who are you?" She allowed her horn to glow gently and focused her energy around the pegasus.

"Counteracting magic," the metal creature announced.

"No, Mystery, let it go, it'll electrocute you!" Rarity warned.

"Error... error..." The pegasus began to chant in a monotone. "Error... error..." Suddenly, his glowing red eyes became similar to those of a real pony, though with a glassy quality to them, as he was not made of flesh. Harmless, almost friendly blue eyes stared at Mystery for a moment and in a more naturally intoned voiced, the metal pegasus spoke, "Digital Fantasy..." A wave of electricity surrounded the pegasus all of a sudden and his eyes flashed from an eerie red to a pained blue rapidly for several seconds until he declared, "system crash! Emergency shut down!" Then he fell motionless, crumpling to the ground as if the incantation that animated him was gone.

The gentle glow faded from Mystery's horn as she went into shock. Most of her memories were still locked away, but broken pieces kept flashing through her mind in a nonsensical parade of dispersed fragments. Feeling a wave of dizziness overtake her, Mystery fainted.

By then Spike had recovered from the attack, but certainly not from the shock. "What just happened? Did that thing hurt her?"

"No..." Rarity gasped. She went over to Mystery and took a closer look just in case, "she fainted." With fear still reflected in her eyes, the element of generosity glanced at the metal pegasus. "I think... I think it's over. I don't know how, but it looks like Mystery dispelled whatever magic made that thing animated." At least that was the only conclusion that Rarity could currently reach.

"I'm going to tare it apart while I have the chance just in case!" Spike roared.

Before the dragon could proceed with his plan, Rarity stopped him. "Don't! We need to show that thing to every pony in Ponyville, then they'll have to believe the mayor, this is your undeniable proof of innocence. I don't want them looking at you like a monster. I absolutely can't stand it and if I hear another nasty whisper I'll kick some pony."

Spike stared at Rarity in her outburst. He thought it was very sweet how she worried about him, though he didn't like the idea of keeping that metal doll whole, but he didn't want Rarity to suffer because of the ignorance of a few gossiping ponies. "Alright, I'll take this thing to Poniville. Who knows, maybe it is best to keep it whole, that way the princesses can have a look at it and maybe get some clues. It did say something strange."

Rarity nodded, musing over the last words of the pegasus. "Actually, everything that thing said was strange, but it did catch my attention how it started speaking differently and had those eyes as if he were a real stallion, except for the part about being made of metal and having no cutie mark."

Spike reluctantly picked up the metal pegasus and held it firmly as if he feared it would spring to life and attack at any random second. Rarity picked up the unconscious Mystery with her levitation and they began to head towards Fluttershy's cottage to let her know what happened, since she was the closest of the elements.

They didn't have to go all the way to the cottage though, as the aforementioned yellow pegasus rushed towards them. "Is every pony okay? Angel Bunny came to get me when I was with the newborn chicks; the chicks are just fine, by the way. Anyway, Angel was terrified. I tried to ask him what was wrong and why he wasn't with Mystery, but he just went to hide in the chicken coop and it scared me because I thought something terrible had happened, but I knew I had to be brave and make sure Mystery wasn't hurt and I didn't realize you were here too and... and..." she hyperventilated.

"Fluttershy, slow down and breathe." Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her frightened friend's shoulder. "The danger has passed, Mystery is fine, she just fainted."

"Oh, that's a relief." After having calmed down a little, Fluttershy registered just what Spike had in his arms and gasped in alarm. "Is that a metal pegasus? The one you told us about?"

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure Mystery somehow managed to dispel the incantation that animated it. It's just a creepy metal doll now." Rarity assured, hoping that her theory was not mistaken.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy breathe uneasily.

"Can I put Mystery down to rest at your place? Spike and I are going to the police station. When Mystery wakes up, you two should gather the girls and meet up with us at the station," Rarity instructed.

Fluttershy could only nod silently, as her voice had escaped her.

To be Continued


	10. Star-crossed 7

Star-crossed

Part 7: Canterlot

The remainder of the day felt like a blur for Rarity. She went to the police station, purposefully crossing the town square so that the gossiping ponies could see the metal doll from the mayor's, according to them hard to believe excuses, with their own eyes and forget about the thrill of stupid dragon terror stories. Rarity and Spike were still at the station when a distraught and somewhat disoriented Mystery arrived, claiming that she had to take the metal doll with her. Fluttershy was with her, fussing all the way, worried about her new friend's odd behavior.

It wasn't long before Twilight showed up and was updated about the happenings. She wrote a letter to Celestia and included in it the narration of the day's events as well as an expression of her intentions to journey to Canterlot on that very evening. Thinking that the metal pegasus, which seemed harmless enough for the time being, was the key to awakening Mystery's memories, Twilight decided that they would take it with them and also that way, they could show it to the princesses.

The evening fell upon Ponyville and all the elements of harmony gathered at the train station. Spike was also there, and of course, Mystery, who had since recalled that her real name was Digital Fantasy. "What's a digital?" Rainbow Dash had inquired in confusion.

"Digital is... digital... not physical or magical, but digital." Needless to say, Fantasy's explanation failed to clarify Rainbow's doubts. Seeing that fact clear as day reflected on the speedy pegasus' face, the unicorn added. "Sorry, my memories are an incomplete mess of broken pieces, so it's hard to explain."

"Well we can at least theorize that your talent is related to the creative arts, judging by your liking for stories and drawings, and now you know your name too so that's progress," Twilight tried to encourage.

"Maybe I just need to express that talent digitally," Fantasy mused, though at the moment, it didn't really help much.

Just as the train was about to receive its evening passengers, several ponies came to Spike with gifts, mostly gems. They didn't directly say why they had brought them, but Rarity suspected that it was to ease their guilty conscience about having gossiped so terribly about sweet Spike. Spike happily accepted the gifts and made no effort to bring up the nasty subject, preferring to simply leave it behind.

As the group waited at the train station, Derpy flew by to deliver a letter addressed to Spike. She bumped into a dark cloud overhead, which Rainbow should have cleared, but forgot about given the circumstances. The cloud shot out a bolt of lightning that hit Fantasy dead on. Derpy landed and apologized continually, while Rarity, without the need of being prompted, rushed to kindly brush Fantasy's mane back into place. With no real harm done, the clumsy mistake was forgiven and Derpy made her delivery.

The letter was from the mayor, assuring Spike that his name had been completely cleared even in the mind of the doubtful, as she had personally observed while discreetly taking a walk through town to gather the general state of the public. "In other words, she was eavesdropping." Rainbow commented from her position looking over Spike's shoulder. Twilight gave her a look of irony, but didn't verbalize her observation.

With the use of few words that characterized him, Macintosh caught up to the group at the train station and delivered a basket of various apple based goodies and sweets. The action earned him a knowing look from his sister and a smiling, "thank you," from Twilight. Though the purple unicorn did love Sweet Apple Acres products, she seemed more interested in the fact that Macintosh had taken time out of his busy schedule to come see them off. She knew that he would be even busier at the orchid with Applejack gone for a few days, albeit the exact period of time was as of yet undetermined.

The ponies arriving from Canterlot finished getting off the train and it was made ready to receive new passengers. Spike picked up Rarity's massive mountain of luggage and, along with the seven mares, he boarded the train to the capital.

Fantasy's only prominent comment along the way was an observation about how slowly the train moved, albeit the other mares mostly agreed that it felt as if it was moving faster than in other occasions when they had ridden it. Celestia's sun sunk in the horizon and was replaced by Luna's moon at the center of the skies. Most of the passengers turned in for the overnight trip and slept, though Fantasy, who was unusually energetic following her accidental encounter with that bolt of lightning, stayed up all night long, tinkering with the metal pegasus in hopes of unlocking more missing memories. She looked at it with a strange fondness despite the fact that, not too long ago, it was set on killing her and anyone who shared her race and color.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the group at last arrived at Canterlot, Fantasy started to get sleepy. They headed straight for the castle and reported to Celestia, who offered them accommodations and reviewed what had happened thus far. After their meeting, the group was allowed to split apart for the purpose of looking around Canterlot and figuring out what localities may serve to jolt Fantasy's memories, as soon as she was awake enough to visit them. Celestia allowed it; though she cautioned them not to go too far in case an emergency reunion was needed.

Twilight remained with Celestia, observing the metal pegasus while Fantasy went to sleep in her room. The strangest thing that Celestia found upon examining it was that it lacked traces of magic other than the time travel that brought it to their era. "Are they truly from far away, or does it only feel that way because of the distortions in magic?" Celestia had mused allowed. For a moment, Twilight thought she saw the faint light of recognition in her mentor's eyes. Yet the princess looked as if she was recalling something tragic.

Then, unexpectedly, a sleepy Luna arrived in the secured room where the metal pegasus would be kept at the castle. The night princess took a long hard look at the creature and glared fiercely. "Do you know who this reminds me of?" Luna half growled, very much resembling Nightmare Moon in her upset.

"Yes..." Celestia quietly agreed.

"If it is him and if he's closer than it appears..." Luna threatened.

"We will face him together," Celestia half assured and half ordered. Luna huffed and left the room. "Luna!" Celestia called after her. "Please excuse me, my faithful student." Leaving her perplexed protege standing there in shock, Celestia ran after her upset sister.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Rarity had a social call to fulfill and she had no intentions of making herself a liar. She hurried towards Fancy Pants' manor, levitating the carefully wrapped package that contained Fleur's hat beside her. Spike hurried along the streets next to her, following her lead to a destination he had not visited before.

The pair arrived at an elegant residence and, before they even knocked on the door, a butler was already letting them in. The butler led them towards a luxurious tea room where Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis were waiting.

After exchanging greetings, Rarity felt the curious need to inquire, "how did you know we were coming?"

"I do wish I could say it was by happier means that I deduced this," Fancy began with a solemn expression. "But it was because of an article in the newspapers about a stream of break ins and strange happenings at Ponyville that I guessed you would be here." Fancy had since their previous meeting learned that Rarity was the element of generosity. "I thought that you and your companions might be needing to meet with the princess soon."

"Ah yes, we did," Rarity admitted.

"But let's not spoil the mood with too much seriousness," Fleur suggested. "You can take some time off and clear your mind while you're here. Now tell me, who is this fine gentlecolt accompanying you this morning?"

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce him, this is Spike." Rarity signaled for the nervous Spike to come forward.

"Um... hello... pleased to meet you..." Spike shyly greeted the upper class ponies. He was so worried about embarrassing Rarity that he could hardly speak.

"Oh my! He's just as charming as you described in your last letter!" Fleur squealed in delight.

"Mr. Spike, I must say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," Fancy Pants announced.

"It is? I mean, the pleasure is all mine!" Spike exclaimed in surprise.

With a burst of sincerity, Fancy Pants made a blunt revelation. "Dragons have reached a position of high esteem among the creme of Canterlot lately. There are only so many out there that are willing to befriend ponies." Thus making them rare, exclusive and therefore worth knowing in the opinion of the upper class, if only so they could brag about being the personal friend of a dragon. "I would be honored if you could come to count us as friends."

Spike smiled in a friendly manner, feeling more confident now. "That sounds great."

Rarity had a certain level of influence in the positive outlook on dragons when she dropped the name of Spike by accident one day. The natural slip up warranted an explanation for the curious ears that wished to hear if that Spike was her coltfriend. He wasn't at time, though Rarity did speak highly of him before later revealing that he was a dragon. A tense silence had hung over the group she was meeting with at one of Fancy's little get togethers and Rarity stood at the ready to defend Spike if anyone dared to speak ill towards him because of his species. However, with an exclamation of "fascinating!" From Fancy Pants, being a dragon living among ponies became a good thing.

"I have a little something here for you, Fleur." Rarity announced as she levitated the wrapped box towards Fleur.

The slender pink haired unicorn took the box in her psychic hold with an excited expression upon her face. "Oh, is it?" Like a filly on Christmas morning, she unwrapped the present and retrieved her new hat, which she guided to elegantly perch atop her head. The varying shade of pink complemented her mane nicely, while the golden details adorned with amethyst matched her elegant eyes. "It's beautiful!" Fleur exclaimed as she levitated over a hand mirror from who knows where.

"I must say, that looks quite lovely on you, my darling," Fancy Pants complimented. "As thanks, I do hope you allow us to show you some hospitality. I know you must have business to tend to at the castle, but whenever you are free, both of you as well as the other elements of harmony are very welcome to dine with us, starting right now, if you would like to join us for breakfast."

xoxox xox xoxox

The day with Fancy and Fleur went rather well. Spike had a feeling it would after Fancy's revelation about dragons and it was confirmed when he realized that they've even taken the care to instruct their cook to include gems in his fancy sweet cinnamon pancake. The group was invited to attend an exclusive night club owned by Fancy, an offer which, in everyone's name, Rarity readily accepted. She would think of a way to get them all to attend.

Thus through the fine art of persuasion, Rarity did manage to get all the elements of harmony plus Digital Fantasy to join her at the club. Spike was of course by her side the whole time. Fantasy left shortly, claiming that parties were not her thing and muttered something about the nights best being spend playing video games, though no one really understood what she meant.

Pinkiepie was doing all sorts of extravagant dances that the posh ponies frowned at until they realized that, silly or not, the pink pony was still one of the elements of harmony and a personal acquaintance of the princesses. Applejack somehow got herself into a drinking contest, which she easily won as the "baby stuff" they served at classy Canterlot was no where near as strong as her family's "special cider." Twilight had once gotten curious and had Macintosh bring her some of that cider to sample. After a cup, she spend the rest of the night singing mathematical equations, a horrid experience for all who had the displeasure of listening to her.

Fluttershy was being her usual shy self, though she at least had Twilight to keep her company as the scholarly purple unicorn had little interest in the social topics of conversation that dominated the atmosphere. Rainbow Dash was sure that she had seen Soarin' somewhere in the crowd saying something about a pie, thus she was quick to order a pie and fly off with it to find the Wonder Bolt.

Rarity was the most comfortable of all in the situation. It was not so for Spike, though he was content enough as long as Rarity was close by. He spent most of the time not really understanding what elicited the fond little laughs of Rarity's Canterlot posse or what was so fascinating about dragons that they had to stare at him for so long. It all made him cling to Rarity. Though he was willing to protect her from any danger, he was the one in need of protection from being overloaded with curious stares and nosy questions.

Taking note of Spike's distress, Rarity managed to escape the crowds and find a quiet corner where she and Spike occupied a somewhat secluded table. There they were finally able to get a breather, plus some drinks and snacks. "Am I really that fascinating?" Spike asked between calming sips of his crushed gem drink.

"Of course you are, darling," Rarity laughed. "But if you're feeling uncomfortable..." She didn't finish the sentence even though it was obvious that she was suggesting they could leave. It was also obvious that she didn't really want to.

Spike shook his head. "Nah, I know you want to be here and I'm happy as long as I'm with you, so it's okay. Besides, this drink with the crushed gems is pretty good."

Rarity's eyes lit up at the prospect of staying there all night. "The night is young, we have such a lovely time to look forward to," she almost squealed.

The festivities were interrupted when the bouncer began to call after some pony rather loudly. He positioned himself between the door and the as of yet unseen uninvited pony, ordering the unwelcome party crasher to leave. The invader in question forced his way in, tossing the bouncer across the club. The bulky white pegasus stallion with small wings and a weight as a cutie mark, skidded across the dance floor, knocking over any ponies in his path as if they were bowling pins.

Rainbow Dash, pie still in hoof, recognized the pony as one of her classmates from the Wonderbolt Academy. He wasn't particularly speedy, agile or skilled, but he was exceptionally strong. For someone like him to be tossed aside so easily, the pony who had forced him out of the way must have a lot more strength than any normal pony would. The glint of metal in the club's multi colored magically powered lights confirmed the identity of their foe. The metal pegasus had escaped its confinement, his eyes rapidly changing from red to blue at random as he eerily chanted, "error, error..." in a distorted voice.

"So you were the one who bought the last pie." Soarin' emerged from the crowds next to Rainbow, as the other ponies backed away.

"Girls!" Twilight called her team of elements of harmony to assemble.

"Here, you can have it," Rainbow gave Soarin' the pie and hurried to join her friends, who gathered around Twilight.

"Let's end this once and for all!" Twilight called out. The necklaces and tiaras of the elements of harmony glowed, their magic assaulting the metal pegasus.

The foe seemed to be somewhat disoriented, his eyes still constantly changing from red to blue unaffected by the elements of harmony. After an apparent inner struggle, the metal pegasus' eyes settled at an angry red and his voice turned to a monotone again. "Counteracting magic attack." Waves of electricity filled the air, however, the elements of harmony protected their wielders and they were not damaged by the counter attack.

"There he is!" A royal guard suddenly rushed in, pointing at the fugitive they were after. Digital Fantasy and none other than Princess Celestia herself, rushed in along with a few more royal guards.

"Counter attack ineffective, recalculating strategy." The metal pegasus declared.

"He'll probably try a physical attack since his electricity isn't working," Fantasy stepped forward. "But I'll stop him first, Cyber Wing, go back to how you used to be!" Her horn glowed brightly, causing the pegasus to stop, as if in a trance. His eyes once again changed from red to blue rapidly and Fantasy tried to focus on an unusual kind of magic that made sparks like little lines and circles appear.

"My little ponies, keep the elements of harmony strong, Twilight, cast a come to life spell with me and all your friends!" Celestia's horn began to glow, covering the metal pegasus in light. She pushed out all her magic until she could give no more.

Something changed in the metal pegasus. Inexplicably, he now had a cutie mark where there had previously been none and he seemed to be affected by the elements of harmony. The pegasus finally gave into the glow of harmony and his eyes settled to a relived blue. Confused, he looked towards the unicorn he had formerly served. "Digital Fantasy..." His voice was no longer a threatening monotone. With his systems exhausted, he softly whispered, "emergency shut down..." and once again became still.

A tense silenced reigned over the club as the elements of harmony finally allowed their magic to stop flowing and stood there uncertain with heavy breaths and tired eyes. Then suddenly, everyone assembled burst out in a wave of loud applause that echoed like a massive stampede. "My little ponies..." Celestia breathed. "Please continue with your festivities." Needless to say, Celestia's words were only directed at those not involved in the recent matters, as she discretely signaled for the elements of harmony to follow her out, along with the castle guards and Fantasy, who had picked up the metal pegasus she referred to as Cyber Wing in her levitation.

To be Continued

One more chapter to go!


	11. Star-crossed 8

Star-crossed

Part 8: Revelations

Once Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkiepie and Digital Fantasy, along with Cyber Wing, were at the Canterlot castle, several explanations were due. Celestia paced lightly in front of her throne, trying to decide where to start. "My little ponies..." she finally voiced tiredly. "I do apologize for what happened; it seems that my defenses were not enough to keep the danger locked in."

"It's not your fault, princess," Fantasy interjected. "If I had remembered the strengths and weaknesses of Cyber Wing, then this never would have happened. He is mine, and thus my responsibility, but he was taken over by... I don't even know who. I must have known before, but I can't remember, it's so frustrating."

"You are not to blame for your amnesia," Celestia admonished. "Although, now perhaps we will find some answers. But first some explanations... Digital Fantasy, maybe you should tell them about Cyber Wing."

"Yes, your highness," Fantasy nodded. "Cyber Wing is indeed a metal doll, but not just any doll. He is a very advanced and complicated machine called android. An android is basically a machine that looks like and simulates the actions of a real pony. In other words, he is animated, but not by means of magic, rather by means of the machinery inside him."

The elements of harmony looked at each other in wonderment. "So he's kind of like a super advanced pony shaped tractor?" Applejack suggested.

"I suppose so," Fantasy allowed the comparison.

"Since he is not actually alive or animated by magical means, the elements of harmony would normally prove ineffective, as they are linked to life itself," Celestia elaborated. "But there is another special type of magic that works," the sun princess prompted.

"Digital magic, it is the union of magic and technology, it's a bit hard to explain and harder to learn unless you grew up with it, but not impossible. It came back to me as if by instinct, just like that time when we encountered Cyber Wing near Fluttershy's place," Fantasy recalled. "My memories are still kind of blurry, but I know that Cyber Wing is mine, he is my assistant and helper, who was taken over and controlled by an enemy I can't remember. I think he should be okay now, restored to how he's supposed to be. Maybe the answer to all of this is in his memories."

"Machines that move on their own without magic and with such power, it's worrisome," Twilight voiced.

"Stopping androids isn't too hard with the resources of my home, I'm sure, but it is different from Equestria. The trick to it is knowing what to do. My digital spell worked once I managed to remember how it was done. However, if he had been receiving commands from another more powerful or amplified digital spell, mine would have fallen short. Yet there are no such things here as far as I've seen, so as things stand now, machines will answer to me. At least until someone else gets the hang of digital spells." Twilight's eyes were shining as she was clearly eager to try to learn those spells. "However," the purple unicorn's hopes were disappointed, "only cyborgs can cast digital spells. That means those who were born as ponies and have become one with machines. I'm fairly certain everyone in my home was a cyborg, something about the living condition of the area requiring it. Converting ponies into cyborgs is not my expertise, nor do I have the resources at present for such a delicate process. So unless another cyborg shows up, I'm the only one who can presently use digital spells to control machines."

"Any machines?" Rainbow asked curiously. "So you can make the Dizzythron go backwards and stuff?"

"Normally, machines are infused with digital energy that makes it so that only their owners can command them and breaking those security measures is both illegal and extremely difficult, but I don't see why anyone would feel the need to take such measures in Equestria, if there is no digital magic in practice anyway." Fantasy replied. Rainbow smiled mischievously, thinking up pranks she wanted to play on a few ponies with the help of that digital magic stuff. Yet before Rainbow could share her plans, Fantasy added. "I also don't think the machines around here use digital functions either, so no, not all machines, only the computerized." Rainbow wasn't sure what that meant, but she felt like her plans ended before they really begun.

"When Cyber Wing reactivated himself, breaking out through the physical barriers around him was easy for his strength and the force field spells I had set up were ineffective, as they were made to keep any traces of magic in. Even living creatures who cannot control their magic have some magic in them, the magic of life itself, which Cyber Wing didn't have, until now," Celestia explained.

"I've been wondering about that, what did you do, princess? And why does Cyber Wing have a cutie mark now?" Fantasy inquired. "Androids are forbidden from having cutie marks because they are constructs and cutie marks are reserved for living ponies."

"That is what I aimed to make him," Celestia revealed. "Cyber Wing was already animated and had an artificial personality buried beyond the..." What did Fantasy called it earlier? Hacking? She said it was the machine equivalent to "brainwashing. Thus a come to life spell would not merely animate him, because he already was. For this ambitious spell to work and remain permanent, I required the magic of the elements of harmony and the appearance of that cutie mark bears witness to its success. Now Cyber Wing is both a machine and a living pegasus. As a living creature, in the future he will be affected by the elements of harmony, so if he is brainwashed again, which I imagine must become a lot more difficult now since his living state would provide conscious mental defenses for such occasions, we can use the elements of harmony to restore him. Plus he might be able to tell us of what is to come."

"And of a way to go home," Fantasy sighed. "Everyone here has been very kind to me, but I'm completely outside of my element and it's depressing..."

Cyber Wing stirred, lifting his metal head to look at his former master, his eyes blue and unthreatening. "Digital Fantasy," his voice sounded very much like that of a real stallion. "Something has changed in my systems, have you installed new software?"

"Not exactly, but you are different now, alive, or you're supposed to be, although your body is still that of an android and functions as such, you're not all that different from me, since I'm part machine too," Fantasy explain.

"I see..." It seemed that the concept of life was still something Cyber Wing needed to get used to. "My outer covers are damaged, my armor is burned and is this a cutie mark? Restoring missing data... I recall what happened, I was overtaken by a virus, but it has now been eliminated from my system, my apologies for the malfunctions."

"It's okay, we have more important thing to think about now. We time traveled to the past, but I have lost some of my memories. I need to know what happened. What warning did I carry? Tell me about everything you remember from the period immediately before we arrived in this era and tell me about our home," Fantasy requested.

"Processing request..." Cyber Wing paused for several seconds until his thoughts were organized. Albeit he was a living android now, he still retained his old habits of expressing himself in such terms, rather than saying something like 'let me gather my thoughts' or some such similar phrase. "The city of Mechatropolis was founded by king Magnus Mecha and his scientist followers. He hid the city in an alternate dimension after a failed attempt at conquering Equestria. For a thousand years, the scholars of Mechatropolis pursued technological advances and multiplied. However, king Magnus changed in that time and decided that he did not wish to declare war on Equestria when the time came for Mechatropolis to appear again in this dimension. When the city did reappear, king Magnus began talks of peace with Princess Celestia. Calculating approximate date... Error, missing date data due to time travel effect..."

Taking the hint, Twilight informed Cyber Wing of the current date.

"Please confirm data..." Cyber requested.

"Confirmed," Fantasy voiced.

"Data accepted," Cyber declared. "Applying calculations... Mechatropolis is expected to appear... today."

A chorus of "today!?" erupted through all those present.

"Then we have but mere hours to prepare," Celestia sighed. "What more can you tell us?"

"Please confirm request..." Cyber prompted.

"Still used to asking for my approval for everything I see," Fantasy chuckled. "You must have some form of instinct now, so you can trust it."

"Analyzing situation... request accepted," Cyber voiced. "The night in which we traveled back in time will be in seven days. Victorious Strong had organized a party at Canterlot." At this point in the android's narration, Celestia let out a little gasp of recognition that went unnoticed. "Because Victorious Strong sent for her specifically, Digital Fantasy decided to attend. I had found system errors that I needed to repair and remained behind at Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis' residence to do so. Canterlot was under attack, thus I hurried out to find Digital Fantasy. When I caught up with her, she had run out of the party in alarm, determined to go back in time to stop a disaster. I escorted her to the Canterlot castle while an army of androids attacked the city. My systems were overtaken just as we reached the chamber where the Tome of Time was expected to be found."

"The party..." Fantasy closed her eyes in concentration, she could almost see the image of what transpired, but it still remained beyond interpretation. "What did I see at the party that made me run off?"

"Maybe the attacking metal ponies?" Rainbow suggested. "We all must have seen them by then."

"I suppose so..." Something still felt out of place for Fantasy. Why did she time travel rather than letting Celestia's forces handle the situation. Furthermore, she was loyal to her king, so what would make her take Celestia's side if Magnus did decide to attack after all?

"Sounds like that king Magnus was still out to take over Equestria after all," Applejack observed.

A massive earthquake shook the land of Equestria, leaving everyone with a feeling of foreboding. The damage was not significant in Canterlot, but Celestia had a very bad feeling about it. The stream of earthquakes continued until a young phoenix rushed into the castle via a window, carrying an urgent message with a speed that only a magical firebird could have, moving through the air like a shooting star. Celestia received the scroll from the phoenix, "a message from Cadence and Shining Armor! They speak of a strange dome the size of a city that has appeared just beyond the border of the Crystal Empire!"

With a serious face, Twilight declared, "it has begun..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Everything occurred just as Cyber had revealed and several days passed by in such a fashion, with the countdown to the night of the disaster drawing ever closer. Magnus did reach out to Celestia and Luna, though only Celestia was willing to speak with him. She did not notice any evil inclinations or hints of deception in him, albeit she knew that disaster was to come and showed herself distrusting. Then she saw him again, her dear friend Victorious Strong. He was a dark blue unicorn with a golden mane and piercing red eyes. His cutie mark was a sword. He had been Celestia's loyal captain a thousand years ago. Magnus had been a researcher at the time, who earned Luna's friendship due to his unusual nocturnal nature.

When Magnus betrayed Luna's trust and sent a mechanical army against Equestria, Victorious had fought alongside the princesses to defend the land. They drove Magnus and his followers into their stronghold, the city of Mechatropolis, which was hidden under an armored dome in the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. It had been Luna's influence that granted Magnus that territory, something that made the night princess feel even more used and betrayed by some pony she had called her friend.

As Celestia, Luna and their followers prepared to storm into Mechatropolis and capture the enemy stronghold, Victorious rushed ahead, not hearing the warning of caution that Celestia called out to him a second too late. Magnus activated a mechanism that mixed magic and machinery, which caused Mechatropolis to be transported into a parallel dimension for the next thousand years, with Victorious Strong caught inside. Eventually, Victorious made peace with Magnus and so time passed.

Seeing Victorious again, so trustworthy of Magnus, made Celestia wonder if Magnus was really trying to trick them or if the villain was some pony else, perhaps one of Magnus' followers or one of their descendants. Celestia didn't want to throw away the possibility of a peaceful resolution, so she would have to uncover the true mastermind soon.

The elements of harmony, Spike, Fantasy and Cyber had all journeyed to Mechatropolis with the princesses. Fantasy's memories became ever clearer as she basked in the technology of her home. Twilight was quick to assault the library, which was filled with talking text that were reflected on glassy squares called screens that responded to the touch, granting access to immeasurable knowledge. Rainbow Dash found a challenge in racing against certain types of android pegasus that were specifically built for speed.

Pinkiepie got hooked on a game called Dance Dance Revolution and had been playing none stop. Applejack joined Pinkiepie at the arcade, participating in a game called Virtual Rodeo in a chamber that produced holographic situations of various challenges and relied on motion sensors to judge the outcome. Fluttershy was fascinated by the variety of realistic mechanical animals that ponies in Mechatropolis kept as pets, some even appearing as impossible combinations of two or more creatures.

As for Rarity, she of course was interested in the fashion of Mechatropolis, which favored metallic colors and sharp angles. It was during one of her online shopping expedition that Spike met Victorious Strong. The unicorn visited the guest area at Mechatropolis where Spike and Rarity were resting, her eyes locked into one of those interactive glassy squares that one could use to see the recorded images of plays, hear music and view fashion catalogues among other things. "Excuse me..."

"Yes?" Spike replied not realizing who the unicorn was.

"I couldn't help it but to notice you're a dragon," victorious observed.

"Oh... yes..." Spike replied unsure.

"I never expected to see one living peacefully around ponies. No offence, but a thousand years ago, a dragon was more likely to eat a pony than date one," Victorious continued. "I had to fight off quite a few to keep Equestria safe during my time as a royal captain."

Spike shifted uncomfortably, while Rarity was too distracted browsing through the online catalogue to notice what was going on. Plus the headphones over her ears kept out all sounds, save for the ones that came from the computer. "Well... you know... times change..."

"Yes, and I am glad for that. I've always thought that dragons are exceptionally formidable creatures and I would very much like to call one a comrade."

Spike relaxed a little at the turn the conversation was taking and smiled. "I'm always open to making new friends. I'm Spike, and you are?"

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself earlier," the unicorn stallion smiled. "I am Victorious Strong, former captain of the Canterlot royal guard."

Spike's jaw dropped. He had thought he saw the image of this unicorn somewhere, but couldn't remember where. Now it all clicked into place, "I've seen you in history books!" It wasn't a pleasant story at first because the dragons were the enemy being driven away by the brave unicorn that was considered a hero. Yet at the end of the history lesson a few words from the unicorn were recorded stating his admiration for dragons and their fighting spirit as well as his hope that one day ponies and dragons could become allies. "You're a legendary hero!"

"It's no big deal, I'm sure someone like you, who has bridged the differences between ponies and dragons and began an era of peace between them deserves far more credit than me," Victorious commended.

"I did all that?" Spike never thought of his way of life in such a light. "I guess that does make me sound like a legendary hero when you put it like that. Uniting ponies and dragons, starting a new era of peace... I like the sound of that."

"Can I make a request?"

"Sure!" Spike was grinning widely, feeling rather dashing being compared to a legendary hero by the archetype of legendary heroes himself.

"In the past, and most likely still in the present I would assume, comrades would spar with each other to help each other improve as well as show their trust in putting the development of their abilities in the hooves of another. If you don't mind, can we do that sometime? Maybe we can even wear armor to make it look grander."

Spike's grin grew, if he wore armor, Rarity would surely thing he looks so dashing. He could be her knight in shining armor literally. "That sounds great!"

"Excellent, shall we meet up this evening to set things up? Maybe we can have an exhibition match for every pony's entertainment tonight. I am planning to throw a small party at Canterlot as I had not been in my native city for a thousand years before now. I have met some kind ponies, Fancy Pants and his wife Fleur De Lis, who seemed all too eager to help with the festivities. Is this okay with you?"

"More than okay!" Spike happily exclaimed. Rarity was helping out with that party too and was looking forward to meeting the archetype of legendary heroes, the one and only Victorious Strong. She would be trilled to know that Spike would be in an exhibition match with Victorious himself, wearing cool heroic armor.

"Excellent, then I'll see you this evening backstage at Fancy's club," Victorious confirmed.

"I'm so there!" Spike cheerfully replied.

After Victorious left, a few minutes passed before a beeping sound woke Rarity from her trance, staring at the fashion catalogue. It was the sounds of an alarm she had figured out how to set on the glassy square to let her know it was time to leave. She lowered the screen onto her lap and glanced at Spike, whom she was leaning against as they lay on a mountain of pillows. His attention was on a small hand held videogame depicting a high jumping red pony with a hat bearing the letter M. "Did you say something, Spiky? I was a bit distracted."

A bit was the understatement of the century. "Oh, I was just talking to Victorious Strong."

Rarity laughed, "Victorious Strong, eh? Well I'm certainly looking forward to meeting the legendary hero of a thousand years ago. He's the archetype of all today's story book heroes, you know. Fancy and Fleur have already met him before I could and assured me that he would be at tonight's party, in fact, he was the one organizing it, with Fancy providing the locale."

Spike realized that Rarity really did think he was joking about Victorious. "Ah well... actually..." Would she be upset if she knew she missed talking to the legend? Maybe... Either way, perhaps it was best to keep the exhibition match as a surprise, she would surely think it's so cool. "I have to go do something this evening about the party, it's a surprise."

"Oh? Has Fancy asked you to help with the preparations?" She inquired curiously.

"Something like that, I'm sure you'll think it's cool. I'll make sure to put on a good show for you, just like a legendary hero," he hinted.

"A surprise for me?" Rarity squealed with curios bliss. "I can't wait to see it! Ah, we should get going now. That speedy flying machine will be leaving to Canterlot shortly."

xoxox xox xoxox

The hour of truth was upon them and Celestia had not discovered the true culprit behind the tragic events that were to pass. She did observe that the ponies of Mechatropolis, the tech ponies as some had taken to calling them, were good ponies and the sun princess didn't want to unfairly judge them because of their leader's actions. Yet accusing Magnus without proof when his subjects clearly admired him so much would surely cause a dangerous uproar. Celestia had also been in contact with Digital Fantasy's past self, who seemed to be an ordinary citizen of Mechatropolis.

As for Fantasy's present self, she observed her own past from a different perspective. Her loyal pegasus android companion, Cyber Wing, had been repaired and now had the appearance of stallion, as his synthetic covers have been restored. He had light blue fur and a blue mane darker than his fur, but lighter than Fantasy's mane, with silvery locks mixed in. In moments, his cutie mark, a metal shield-like wing, appeared atop the synthetic fur as if by magic. Fantasy had spoken about this in Celestia's company to Magnus and he recognized Cyber Wing as another of his living citizens. Another thing Fantasy observed was that the inexplicable interest Victorious Strong had taken towards her past self during the time immediately preceding the disaster was a consequence of Celestia's interest in speaking to her past self in hopes of gaining a sort of clue that Fantasy knew could not be found there.

One thing was a consequence of the other. If Fantasy had not time traveled, she wouldn't have caught Celestia's interest. Yet if Celestia had not interacted with her past self, she wouldn't have caught Victorious' interest and thus wouldn't have attended the party where she witnessed something that made her want to go back in time. It was also during the meetings of her past self with Celestia that she met Philomena, as Fantasy was remembering more and more as the zero hour drew ever closer. Maybe her lack of memories was the way time itself had to make sure that she did what she was destined to do and a paradox wouldn't have to be acted out in slightly different ways repeatedly until time settled into a loop where what is destined to happen matches what has, in a way, already happened.

Luna's one short meeting with Magnus Mecha during the span of the week was tense and consisted of him apologizing with apparent sincerity and her trying to stab him with her horn. Celestia had to interfere and break up the one way fight. Luna had bitterly returned to her chambers with memories of days long past dancing in her mind. She remembered when she first met Magnus, who was then a unicorn. Now he had become an alicorn through cyborg technology and had silvery metal wings. The Magnus of the past was a loner who preferred the quiet of the night over the busy days. He spent all his time tinkering with machines under the light of magical floating orbs that looked like little stars around him.

One night, Luna had curiously approached the peculiar unicorn. His golden fur reminded Luna of the color of the sun and his silvery mane shone with the reflected light. Such a stallion, she would imagine, would bask in the rays of her sister's sun and enjoy the active days with the others. Yet he always remained awake during the night and slept during the days. Magnus had been surprised when the night princess approached him, but composed himself and greeted her politely. She didn't really understand what he went on and on about trying to achieve with his machines, but Luna was often lonely while everyone slept the nights away and was glad to have some pony to talk to.

Eventually, more ponies joined Magnus' research and the nocturnal group became favored by Luna, who convinced Celestia to grant them a portion of land and materials to build a research laboratory in the borders of what not too long ago had been the Crystal Empire, which had only recently disappeared. The laboratory became a city with an armored dome cover to hide its many secrets. Then came the betrayal, as Magnus led his mechanical army to storm Equestria. Celestia, Luna, Victorious Strong and their followers, drove Magnus' forces back, overpowering them with the sheer force of their magic, though if the enemy army had greater numbers and had been technologically perfected; it would have been a lot more difficult to win.

xoxox xox xoxox

The time finally came for Victorious' party at Canterlot, the zero hour in which Celestia and Luna kept a close eye, or a close glare in Luna's case, on Magnus, waiting to catch him in the act of making his evil move, expose him to the tech ponies as a tyrant who only wanted to use them and ultimately stop the disaster that was to come. As expected, Fancy and Fleur had grown curious about everything concerning Mechatropolis. Because of Digital Fantasy's past self being summoned by Celestia, she ended up in Canterlot, which led her to meet them.

Victorious sent for Fantasy to go to the party and meanwhile at Mechatropolis, the armored dome around the city was brought down to reveal the tower standing at its center. By then the tower had already begun to broadcast the virus that would control all the domestic androids in the city and Mechatropolis' Steel Soldiers, an android alicorn army originally built for Magnus' return and revenge, that reprogrammed into being harmless after his eventual change. Cyber's past suffered from that virus, not knowing what it was at the time, and remained at Fancy's place repairing himself. Fantasy's past didn't think the errors were serious and left Cyber there while she went ahead to the party, only because Victorious had called for her.

Then came the time of revelation, while Cadence and Shining armor were needed at the Crystal Empire to keep an eye on the near by Mechatropolis, almost every other pony who was some pony was at the Canterlot party. Celestia, Luna, Magnus, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkiepie were all present. Fantasy was destined to arrive soon, while Spike and Victorious were preparing for their exhibition match. The only element of harmony who was missing was Twilight, who had lost track of time and became caught up with what was supposed to be a short session of extra studies at the Canterlot castle.

As Fantasy's past self arrived at the party, Victorious' and Spike exhibition match was set to begin, but what happened was something quite different. A giant dragon claw ripped the club's ceiling right off. The dragon responsible had the same colors as Spike and looked just like him during his greed growth. The only difference was that he wore strange metal armor with needle-like wires that penetrated his scales. "Spiky?" Rarity gasped in frightened shock.

On the dragon's shoulder, there was Victorious Strong, also wearing armor that included an elaborate helmet. "Victorious! What is the meaning of this?" Celestia demanded to know.

"This is exactly what you deserve, my dear Celestia," Victorious laughed. "I've waited for a thousand years trapped in a city where war heroes like me only existed in fiction. A place with no dragons for me to chase away and no fair princess to protect. But why did I even want to protect such a princess in the first place? Such a cold hearted princess who would abandon her loyal captain with the enemy. I was always dispensable to you, wasn't I, Celestia?"

"No!" Celestia exclaimed. "You were a hero and were remembered as such. That dreadful time a thousand years ago I tried to tell you not to rush in. I tried to-"

"Lies! Spike, my slave, destroy Equestria, go my Steel Soldiers, let terror consume this land!" Victorious shouted. From the boxes delivered that were supposed to contained supplies for the party, troops of android alicorns with glowing red eyes marched out. They had no synthetic covers, as they held no need for such decorations, their metal armor glistening in the moonlight. Their sharp horn shot bolts of electricity, their metal tails were as scythes and their armored wings granted them great speed. At the same time, the android companions of the tech ponies visiting Canterlot were also used to attack.

Luna stared in disbelief, "Victorious, the unicorn that my sister trusted so much..." She hurried towards the distraught Celestia. "My sister, this is the betrayal I felt a thousand years ago when I lost my nocturnal friends and was left with no one at all to appreciate my nights. You tried to console me, but I didn't listen. Please, Celestia, now I tell you that you must stand strong!"

"Luna... my sister..." Celestia voiced solemnly. "Don't be so distraught, this only means that Magnus' repentance was true. As for Victorious... We can still bring him to his senses with the elements of harmony!" Five of the six elements of harmony assembled, but Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be seen. Celestia sighed, "she was caught up on her studies again, wasn't she?" The sun princess couldn't really blame her student, as she herself had suggested a light study session to calm the stressed purple unicorn. Plus no one ever said that attendance to the party was required or to be graded, though she was certainly invited.

Spike was rampaging through Canterlot under Victorious' control as was the android alicorn army and the hacked domestic androids. "I never expected this betrayal," Magnus admitted. "I'm so sorry it came to this, but I will stop Victorious!"

"You can't do it alone," Luna argued. "Do those Steel Soldiers have a weakness?"

"They are not acting as they should," Magnus mused. "That means that there must be something overriding their core programming. The only device I know of that can do that is the central tower at Mechatropolis. For victorious to commandeer it like this..."

"Celestia, you and the elements of harmony should do all you can to protect Canterlot. I'll go to Mechatropolis with Magnus." Luna decided.

"Luna!" Celestia gasped unsure.

"I can handle this," Luna assured. "Magnus, to be honest, I haven't fully forgiven you yet, but it doesn't look like you're going to become a traitor a second time, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Now let's go to the tower you speak of."

"Princess Luna... thank you," Magnus and Luna took off full speed.

"Woah! I didn't realize they could move that fast!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I need to challenge them both to a race one of these days."

"Digital Fantasy," Celestia spoke to the past version. "Please find Twilight Sparkle at the castle. She is locked in a sound proof room I lent her so she could study in peace, thus she won't hear any of the chaos going on outside. Hurry and tell her what is happening!"

"Yes!" Fantasy's past self rushed out. Just outside, she met up with Cyber's past self, who, despite not being fully functional, rushed to find his master when he became aware of the danger in the city.

Not too far away, the Digital Fantasy of the present watched the events unfold along with Cyber Wing's present self. "There we go. I'll reach the castle and instead of finding Twilight I will instead try to get the Tome of Time, which I ironically learned about during my past conversations with Celestia, not knowing what was destined to occur. The time loop has come to a close and all my memories have been restored. Warning Celestia was a lie to persuade Philomena. I couldn't believe Victorious was a traitor and thought that it if went to the past, I could convince him not to go through with this, I wanted to save him and stop him from causing my dear friends so much pain. But we can't rely on time travel to fix everything or else the cause of the time travel itself would be erased, which would in turn take away the warning, yet without the warning, the need for time travel would still be there, creating an endless paradox. Maybe my amnesia was a self defense of time to create a loop that would repair the flow of time and prevent the timeline from being torn apart by paradoxes that cannot be reconciled."

"What can we do now?" Cyber inquired.

"We're going to find Twilight as we should have done in the first place!" Digital Fantasy and Cyber Wing rushed to the castle, following their past selves, but not closely enough to be detected. "Most of the androids are after our past versions, so we should be able to find Twilight easily. It looks like the castle guards have gone out to help the city. Are you doing alright, Cyber? Can you track Twilight?"

"My living condition protects me from the hacking to an extent, it is bothersome, but I can withstand it. Locking on to Twilight Sparkle's magical signature... Twilight Sparkle found, this way!" With Cyber Wing leading the way and fighting off, along with Digital Fantasy's own magic, any stray androids that went after them, they reached the chamber where Twilight was quickly.

Fantasy threw the door opened and closed it again with her glowing horn behind Cyber and herself. Twilight's concentration was broken from her studies and she looked up from the high tech portable device she was reading from. It could read to her, but she actually like reading. "What was that? It sounds like there's a war going on out there."

"There is!" Fantasy exclaimed. "The elements of harmony are needed, you have to hurry and join the others before Equestria is destroyed.

"What?" The two unicorns and pegasus rushed out of the room and through the halls of the castle towards the city. "How is this possible? Princess Celestia said she was keeping an eye on Magnus and that I should just relax until the party. She said she would send someone from the castle staff to get me when it was time to go!" Twilight went on in shock.

"I'm pretty sure the whole castle staff is busy with survival right now," Fantasy replied.

"Affirmative," Cyber agreed, as if it wasn't already an obvious fact.

Just outside of the castle, between rampaging metal alicorns, there was Spike, tearing the city apart. "Don't tell me that's...?" Twilight couldn't even finish her question.

"Request accepted, I will not reveal the identity of the dragon," Cyber Wing declared, then he paused and thought about it for a moment. "Or did you actually mean that you wanted to know?"

"That's Spike, brainwashed by Victorious Strong," Digital Fantasy revealed.

"Victorious?!" Twilight exclaimed. "You mean this isn't Magnus' doing?"

"No, he went off to Mechatropolis with Luna to try to stop the source of Victorious' control," Fantasy revealed.

"Twilight!" Rarity's voice rung out through the chaotic streets along with the sound of rapid hoof steps. Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkiepie caught up with their missing element of harmony. "We need to use the elements of harmony to save Spiky before he hurts himself!" Rarity shrieked in a panic.

"Or completely demolishes the city," Applejack added.

"Right, let's free him from Victorious' control!" Twilight and the other elements of harmony ran towards Spike, fighting android alicorns along the way with unicorn magic, hard bucks and whirlwinds.

"Spiky, we came to save you!" Rarity called out to her beloved as soon they reached him. Spike only growled in return and spat out flames at them.

Celestia swooped in and shielded them with her magic, though clearly she was at her limit and fell to the side bruised, scratched and exhausted soon after. "My little ponies... the elements of harmony... you must..." The sun princess fainted.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed.

Suddenly, the androids froze, falling down like lifeless dolls. "Magnus and Luna must have disabled the control tower!" Fantasy realized.

"The probabilities of victory have increased," Cyber commented.

"Let's do this!" Twilight's tiara and eyes began to glow, as did the necklaces and eyes of the other elements. Spike contorted as if he was in great pain and his size was reduced gradually.

"No! I won't let you do this!" Victorious growled. His helmet glowed, feeding the brainwashing that overtook Spike.

"Spiky, you have to fight back!" Rarity somehow broke free from the trance of the elements of harmony, though they were still active, her necklace still glowing brightly and her eyes were like two lights.

Spike let out an earsplitting roar as his size was further reduced. The high tech magically adaptable armor clung to him, its size changing along with Spike's body. Victorious jumped off the shrinking Spike, keeping himself afloat in mid air by an advanced levitation spell that allowed him to fly without wings. He watched unable to stop it as Spike regained enough control to rip the armor off. The needles that dug into his scales were painful, but not more so than the loss of control itself. "Rarity..." Spike shrunk to his normal size, just a little bigger than Rarity.

"Spiky!" The elements of harmony ceased their glow as the pair reunited.

"I'm sorry, he tricked me..." Spike apologized, weak from all he had to go through.

"It's not your fault," Rarity hugged him in relief, "he tricked every pony."

"This isn't over!" Victorious growled.

"Yes it is," Celestia got to her hooves on shaky legs. "Luna and Magnus have deactivated the control tower that you used to control the androids and you have lost your influence on Spike. Don't make this any harder on yourself and allow the elements of harmony to heal you. If you repent of your evil, you will be cleansed, but if you don't you will be turned to stone!"

"Being stone can't be worse than being trapped in a land where I have no place!" Victorious yelled bitterly. "The luxurious utopia of Mechatropolis, where everyone was safe for a thousand years, focusing on advancements. It came to a point where every pony even had their own mechanical servant that took care of the more menial tasks of life, while they were free to pursue higher knowledge and advancements. There were no monsters hiding in the shadows, no rampaging dragons preying on defenseless ponies, there was no place for heroes of battle, there was nothing to protect them from! I was useless, I tried to adapt to their ways and even became a cyborg, but my past glory was gone. They didn't see me as a hero, I was an ordinary stallion, pleasing to the eyes, but not as smart as they. It was because you abandoned me, Celestia, you whom I loved and was willing to give my life for. This is all your fault, I hate you! I was a hero for you and I got nothing but suffering in return!"

"Victorious..." Celestia gasped, "you never even told me..."

"What good would it have done?" Victorious growled. "Only a true legend could be good enough for a goddess and you never noticed that I was trying all along to become him, the hero of legend that conquered all trials and was rewarded by the goddess, just like in mythology." His horn glowed brightly, protuberating from an opening on his helmet which covered the rest of his face. "I'll settle this the old fashion way, come to life my alicorn army!"

Several of the android alicorns nearest to them began to move, closing in on the group. "If this is truly a come to life spell, then the alicorns will be affected by the elements of harmony. Fight back, my little ponies!" Celestia called out.

Once again, the six elements of harmony assembled; their eyes, necklaces and tiara glowing brightly. However, the bitterness that Victorious held was strong and the element wielders were far too tired from the strain of freeing Spike. The metal alicorns charged in and even if Celestia, Spike, Fantasy and Cyber did all they could to stop them, they were able to reach the element wielders and break their focus with harsh attacks.

Just when it looked like the heroes were unable to power the elements of harmony enough to win, when it seemed that Equestria would finally fall, another light coated the land, originating from the Crystal Empire's border, from Mechatropolis. "A digital spell!" Fantasy exclaimed.

"Analyzing... This is the energy of King Magnus and Princess Luna! He is lending him her energy for him to cast a digital spell reclaiming the Mechatropolis army as his," Cyber determined.

"No!" Sparks flew from Victorious' overworked horn, as he was unable to maintain control over the alicorn androids.

"Try again with the elements of harmony!" Celestia called out.

The elements of harmony became active again as their holders pushed themselves beyond their limits. The light of the elements of harmony surrounded Victorious. He remembered the loyalty he once held towards Equestria, his honest wish to protect every pony, the kindness he showed to those who counted on him, his selfless generosity in sharing the spoils of victory, the laughter he shared with his friends, and how magical it all once was. Though he pushed himself to resist it, he could not. His horn no longer glowed, Victorious Strong, the stallion who was once considered the archetype of a legendary hero, lay motionless.

If Victorious refused redemption he should have been turned to stone for a millennia, not killed. Yet he wasn't moving. With unmistakable worry, Celestia carefully removed his helmet, fearing that all the magic coursing through him was too much. Where once there was a familiar face full of youth, now there was the face of an aged stallion, unmoving and unresponsive. No one dared to speak until Celestia softly whispered, "his life is fading..." A few tears escaped her eyes, landing on Victorious' face.

The dying unicorn opened his now dim red eyes that were once filled with endless hopes and dreams. "A goddess should not shed tears for a mere mortal." He whispered in a sorrowful voice; then he closed his eyes again and remained still and cold.

"Cyber, do all you can to save him!" Fantasy urged.

"Affirmative!" Cyber placed his hooves on Victorious' chest and allowed a gentle flow of electricity to escape him. "His emergency backup system is active, but drained; I must maintain the flow of electricity."

"Good, do it," to the perplexed looks of all the others, Fantasy offered an explanation. "Victorious is a cyborg, which means he needs both food and the occasional charge of electricity. His natural life would have expired long ago if not for his cyborg components, which keep him alive even now. He pushed himself too hard and his energy was so drained that he lost his youth, but he will regain it if he remains in hibernation for some time."

At that very moment, Luna and Magnus returned. "Is every pony okay?" She asked.

Celestia nodded in relief, "we will be."

"Vic is not looking too good, keep that energy going for now, Cyber Wing, we'll hook him up to a battery and he'll be healthy again soon." Magnus looked at Celestia. "I assume he'll have you to answer to when he awakens?"

Celestia shook her head, "the elements of harmony didn't petrify him, the judgment has ended."

"I see... And I also see the destruction all around Canterlot," Magnus sadly acknowledged. "Now that the Steel Soldiers are under my control, I can use them to rebuild Canterlot before we leave."

"Leave?" Luna questioned.

"The tech ponies, as they have been called, are too different from the ponies of Equestria. Our two cultures are not ready to coexist as one. I'm afraid my citizens will go from being novelties to being feared and if that goes to their heads they might make the same mistake I did," Magnus explained. "That is why we must leave, at least until the passing of time makes us more similar."

"I understand," Celestia accepted the choice, seeing its logic.

"You don't have to go to another dimension, go to the moon instead, I'm sure you must have the resources to do it!" Luna offered. She and Celestia were currently the only others besides the cyborgs who could survive at the moon, because of their abundant magic. The two princesses were also the only ones who could travel between the earth and moon by their own power, without the need for a vessel as the tech ponies still needed.

"You are right and I am very grateful to you for offering us your moon, princess Luna. After Canterlot is restored we will journey there. As for Victorious... Sometimes a stallion needs a good kick from a pretty mare to come to his senses." Magnus spoke as if from personal experience. "If it's alright, I'll take him along and see to it that he recovers. I'll keep an eye on him just in case, but I have a feeling that he learned his lesson."

xoxox xox xoxox

Though their friends from Mechatropolis had gone to the moon, they would always be remembered in bonds of unbreakable friendship...

xoxox xox xoxox

Dear Princess Celestia:

Though sometimes it may seem that the only way out of a problem is to have stopped it from happening in the first place, there are times when we have no choice but to face reality as it is. Even when a situation is overwhelming, running away only takes us in circles that end where they began.

When my past self was sent to find Twilight, I did not know or trust her. That made me want to undo everything quietly, stopping and excusing Victorious before he even did anything. I know now that it wouldn't have worked, for he would have kept his bitterness bottled up and be forced to eventually let it out.

After my trip to the past, during which I got to know the wielders of the elements of harmony, I trusted them and knew that I could count on my new found friends to get through the hard times together, through the magic of friendship.

I hope everyone in Equestria is doing well. I know it will take many years, but I will be here, waiting for the time when our two kingdoms can coexist.

Digital Fantasy

PS: I tried to send a package full of lunar gems for Spike and Rarity (Luna said it was okay), but the scroll teleporter short circuited, as it is made to only handle paper. (Which I never got used to after typing all my life, so I had Cyber Wing install a writing software and write this for me.) Anyway, the teleporter took a while to fix, hence my late reply. Maybe Luna will kindly deliver the new non-charred lunar gems I picked up next time she drops by.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Spiky, you'll never guess what just happened!" Before he could try to guess... "My lunar gem dress is going to be featured in the most important scene of Sapphire Shores' new movie!"

"Movie? Isn't she a singer?"

"Yes, but you know singers turning into actors and vice versa is the in thing these days."

A smile, "congratulations, Rare!"

"Applewood here I come!" A joyous squeal. "You'll come with me, right?"

"Of course, I'll go anywhere for you!"

"I love you, my Spiky-wikey!"

"I love you too..." Then there was a kiss, another of many.

End?

The quote "it has begun..." is a reference to Mortal Kombat. For those who recognized the description, yes Mechatropolis has touch computers rather than regular ones. For those who are yet to become familiar with them, think of an iPad with the full capabilities and interface of a PC (as in not the extraordinarily long list of limitations of an iPad) and many more advancements than what we have today. The red pony with the M hat is a reference to Mario. The time travel concepts were based on the episode where Twilight time travels and by doing so ends up causing the situation that made her time travel. As a random little trivia, Magnus is the great, great, etc. uncle of Flim and Flam. Though the story is over, I will post an epilogue with a sort of summary of the story of Mechatropolis to clarify any doubts that might still remain about the plot.

For those who are curious about the ending dialogue, it is a hint at a story I never got around to write (as of this posting anyway), which would have involved Rarity going to Applewood as a costume designer, getting roped into acting and uncovering a dangerous plot hidden in the shadows of Los Pegasus. It was supposed to be a cross between celebrity drama and mafia story. But I've been meaning to take a break from writing in general (not just from this fandom) as soon as all my current stories are finished, so I'll probably not start another one any time soon.


	12. Star-crossed 9

Star-crossed

Part 9: Epilogue

One thousand years ago, there was a genius unicorn stallion called Magnus Mecha. He was skilled with machines and conducted constant advanced studies along with a specially chosen group of elite researchers. Magnus and his followers preferred the quiet of the night over the noisy busy days, as they could better focus on their experiments. Because of their nocturnal habits, the group was favored by Princess Luna, who became good friends with Magnus. At his request, she granted him a territory in the lands neighboring the borders of what once was the Crystal Empire, which had disappeared after King Sombra had been recently defeated. There, Magnus built a peculiar metal dome, large enough to fit a city the size of Canterlot inside, and he called it Mechatropolis.

Unfortunately, Magnus betrayed Luna's trust when he constructed pony shaped machines that would serve as soldiers to take over Equestria. Ultimately, he lost the war and retreated to his headquarters of Mechatropolis with his followers and what was left of his android army. The disappointed Luna and Celestia gave chase to ensure that the enemy did not prepare another attack. The princesses were accompanied by their trusted captain of the royal guard, Victorious Strong, a heroic unicorn stallion of exceptional prowess.

Though Magnus' stronghold fought against the Equestrians, in the end, they broke through their defenses and Victorious charged into the dome ahead of the princesses. Seeing as his defeat and imprisonment was imminent, Magnus activated a device that hid Mechatropolis in an alternate parallel dimensional space, similarly to what King Sombra had done before, but with one distinct difference. Those trapped inside the dome city would not be frozen in time as the crystal ponies were. They would remain conscious and continuously work to become more knowledgeable and stronger for the day of their return.

Shortly after Magnus' imprisonment, Luna was left with no one to appreciate her nights and became very lonely. Thus the story of Nightmare Moon began. It had been a thousand years since then when Luna recovered her true self and the Crystal Empire returned and was restored to its past splendor. Then something very peculiar happened, an amnesiac unicorn appeared with traces of time travel magic and a dangerous pursuer. She was being hunted by a metal pegasus who, as if possessed by something evil, had no qualms about eliminating all who stood in his way.

Celestia thought that the unicorn must have come with a warning and entrusted her to the elements of harmony in hopes that they could help her recover her missing memories. In time, the unicorn, whose name was Digital Fantasy, began to recall bits and pieces of her life and even managed to recover her pegasus android companion, Cyber Wing, who had been reprogrammed to kill her. Yet before Fantasy and the elements of harmony could put all the pieces of the puzzle together, the time came for Mechatropolis to reappear.

The city of machines was populated in part by the descendants of Magnus' original followers, with a few of the originals also remaining alive, having extended their lives via cyborg enhancements. It was revealed that it was from the near future and not from a distant future that Fantasy came from, when her own past self was found at Mechatropolis. Magnus, now an alicorn with mechanical wings, had become the true king of Mechatropolis, learning to care for his subjects above his own ambitions. He appeared to have changed his ways for the better and had no desire to take over Equestria. He claimed that his wish was only for peace. Understandably, the princesses, especially Luna, were distrusting of Magnus and approached the matter of Mechatropolis with heavy suspicions.

Nevertheless, the princesses' suspicions were misplaced. Just as Fantasy's past self was sent back to the past, her present self recovered her memories fully. Yet it was too late to warn any pony of what was truly destined to occur, as it had already begun. The once heroic Victorious had grown bitter, trapped in a place where war heroes were not needed. Though he pretended to make peace with the repentant Magnus during his thousand year stay at Mechatropolis, Victorious was secretly waiting for the day when the city would reappear in Equestria so he could take his revenge. Yet his resentment was not for Magnus, but for Celestia herself, whom he secretly harbored romantic feelings towards. He felt she had used and betrayed him by leaving him to be trapped along with the enemy.

Victorious took over the central control tower of Mechatropolis and used its technology paired with his magic to send an army of android alicorns against Equestria. Worse yet, he brainwashed Spike by tricking him into wearing a special high tech armor and caused him to become an enslaved rampaging beast, towering over Canterlot. With great pains, Luna set the past aside and joined forces with Magnus to stop the signal from the control tower. Meanwhile, the elements of harmony were able to free Spike. Yet Victorious had a backup plan, he used his own life energy to reestablish his control on the robot alicorn army, aiming to kill Celestia. Yet thanks to Luna lending her power to Magnus, Victorious was once again stopped. Finally, the elements of harmony targeted Victorious himself and, when his resolve was momentarily weakened by regret, they defeated him. With Victorious no longer controlling them, the alicorn android army regained their original programming as peaceful protectors. Later, after having them repair Canterlot, Magnus had them march back into Mechatropolis to be stored away, hopefully never having to be called upon.

When Celestia removed the helmet of her former royal captain, she found that the youth he had preserved for a thousand years through cyborg technology, had been drained away by his desperate efforts. Celestia did not know of his feelings for her, but none the less, she had tried to stop him from charging in so recklessly the day in which Mechatropolis first disappeared. As bitterness would accomplish nothing, Celestia held no grudge against he who was judged and not petrified by the elements of harmony. Though it looked like he might die, Victorious was sabed by his cyborg condition and would eventually rejuvenate and awaken, but time had to pass before that.

The danger had ended, but the ponies of Equestria were left frightened and untrusting towards the ponies from Mechatropolies. Fearing for the possibility of conflict and the inevitable difficulties that the two widely differing cultures would have adapting to each other, Magnus decided to move Mechatropolis elsewhere. Luna offered her moon as the site of a new home for the city of the ponies that came to be known as tech ponies. Thus Mechatropolis took to the skies and landed on the moon, where the tech ponies continued their peaceful lives, waiting for the day when the Equestrians would gain the knowledge to freely travel to the moon, thus marking the readiness of the two groups to unite in bonds of true friendship.

End

I hope you enjoyed the story. You can see pixels of all the original ponies at the art archives linked in my profile.


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